Pirated Scraps - Discontinued
by Insanity Engine
Summary: Sanity is so easily broken, such a fragile thing. Tejed knew something was wrong. Something had snapped- something crucial. She was slowly slipping- falling away from a world that no longer wanted her. And amid her diseased thoughts all she felt was rage.
1. Chapter 1

_Journal Entry 32215: Day Six _

_I'm starting to lose it, starting to see things when there's nothing really there. Why do the shadows taunt me like this? Have I been here so long that even my own mind is not the sanctuary it once was? Where did I go wrong? What cataclysmic error in the very fabric of space and time brought me _here, _of all places? And as a test subject for their ungodly experiments? ... No matter. Existential questioning of the universe will get me nowhere. I may as well sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, no matter how disgusting it is. Sooner or later, they'll come, and when they do, I might as well say goodbye. Here's to hoping I'll see the Earth at least one last time. _

_-Tejed Jenal

* * *

_

The vessel was dark and gloomy, its shadow filled corners giving an air of derelict melancholy, yet Samus knew this ship was far from deserted. Its rusted gun metal exterior, though scuffed and pock marked by years of space borne debris, still bore the tell tale signs of daily use, and as the Hunter wandered its dreary halls in search of her prey she could see it all around. It was only a matter of time before her rude intrusion became evident to the vessel's inhabitants.

Old steel reinforcements creaked and groaned as she walked over them, curious sounds that filled the air with their muttered whispers. Old ships, especially ones as ancient as this, had a habit of becoming noise makers. 'Talkers', they were known as. Old tales littered the space ways, stories that if one listened hard enough, snippets of conversation could be heard in the creaking of old steel. Indeed, the sounds aboard this particular ship spoke of sorrow and dismay, and as Samus listened she could hear, faint at best but still there, scratching at the very edge of hearing, a low sonorous wail from the very bowels of the ship, interlaced with the same misery that set the rusted girders around her on edge. The ship was in pain and it was trying so desperately to tell someone.

_Help me_, it whispered. _Save me_, it groaned. _Something is wrong, something is not right_, it clanked, in a voice like escaping steam.

Something, be it natural or not, was in the process of creation, and that thought alone made the Hunter shiver. She hated Talkers, and this one was no exception. They always set the hairs on the back of her neck on edge and sent cold fingers down her spine. Undoubtedly there were illegal experiments on board, grotesque amalgams of nature and science, of pure life and tainted Phazon.

Typical space pirate affairs, she thought with a brief swell of righteous anger. Always intent on perverting life, even if those lives were their own.

Samus came to a stop at the end of a hallway, and as she stopped so did the ship's sad voice. _Here_, it hissed eagerly. _Here's where it is. Save me, please…_ She surveyed the all too fortified door silently. Adorning its slick steel front like an distorted flower was a complicated fusion of locks and bolts and high tech security systems. Their purpose was easy enough to discern: keep intruders out. Or, maybe, it was to keep whatever was inside in. Either way, the Hunter was not one to let so arbitrary a feature stop her, and a quick, silent blast from a charged plasma beam left a clean hole in the center of the door. Defeated, it juddered to life and slid without fuss into the wall. She peered in.

The room was, like the rest of the vessel, dark and ominous, a faint chemical scent wafting on an unnatural breeze. She took a step into the room, arm cannon at the ready.

Harsh light erupted from unseen fixtures, temporarily blinding the Hunter and causing her to stagger back slightly, cannon in front of her face. It took her eyes, accustomed as they were to dreary darkness, a few seconds to adjust to the unnatural light now spilling into the room, at which time she beheld a room far removed from the lifeless halls she was just exploring.

Lining the walls were cells. Row upon row of them. Glass sealed fronts and heavy steel backs, each connected by snaking tubes and wires to holding tanks. And what did those secondary tanks hold? Phazon, of course. Samus felt close to retching but held the uneasy feeling down. It wasn't that the sight of the Phazon disgusted her, it was what the Pirates were doing with it. For each of those cells held living things. Some of those living things were suspended in clear fluid, helpless to save themselves, while others lay crumpled upon cold unforgiving steel. They were all different species, and as Samus began her slow walk down a worn foot path between the holding vats and the cells she silently documented the inhabitants of each cell.

Cell number twenty eight: a geemer suspended in clear gel. Tubes connected without care to the creature's well being to to its spiked shell. Blue veins arced through its body. It spasmed once, as though it sensed her, but just as quickly became still.

Cell number fifty six: a sidehopped laying crippled as far into the far corner as it could get. One of its legs was missing, in its place a broken mass of stunted veins and arteries. It was breathing quick, as if it was in pain. The Hunter averted her eyes and continued on.

And then came the cells with creatures she could not identify, alien animals from far off planets orbiting unknown stars, with strange appendages and soft, mewling cries like sobbing infants. And though they were strange and otherworldly they shared the same traits as their common neighbours: the Phazon. They were all treated to varying doses of the very same mutagenic substance that Samus was sure had been eliminated with the destruction of Phaaze. Though she did not know where the Pirates had procured the dangerous substance, the fact that, once again, they were tampering with it was more than enough reason for the hunter to put an end to it once and for all.

Evidently this vessel had been far beyond the influence of the Federation and deep in wild uncharted space. The wonders its crew must have seen. The horrors.

Samus had seen more than enough. She was ready to destroy this frigate and all its inhabitants once and for all. None of the Phazon destroyed abominations could be allowed to survive. None of them. It would be for the best that they were destroyed instead of allowed to live, put out of their misery and pain. So then it would forever be a mystery what had compelled her to keep walking instead of turning around and leaving, compelled her to look into each and every cell instead of destroying the frigate right then and there. For they all held the same things, right? They were all home to non-sentient species, creatures that held nothing more than primal instinct instead of intelligence. The perfect candidates for experimentation.

She was wrong.

She stopped dead in front of one of the last remaining cells, at the far end of the room. At an area where the lights flickered on and off, in dire need of maintenance. The cell she gazed with mixed emotions into was a bit more fortified than the rest, as though its occupant held more danger than even a frightened sidehopper. And when those sidehoppers decided to kick, they could break almost anything. No. The creature in here was apparently dangerous.

It lay shivering at the back of its cell, its facial features hidden in the dark ruddy light. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a Space Pirate. It had the features down, for sure. And Samus didn't really hold it past them; routinely they used their own for their twisted experiments. And yet something about the creature was off, was simply not right. Maybe it was that shock of whispy white hair, flecked with a filthy combination of blood and dirt to the point it was a miracle at all it was white instead of a dirty brown. Maybe it was the way that hair hung over that darkened face, bringing into stark relief solemn yellow eyes that long ago failed to register what it saw. And maybe it was simply the way the creature's body shuddered uncontrollably, as if wracked by unwanted and no doubt painful memories. Either way, there was something about this decrepit and sad looking Space Pirate that compelled the Hunter to access the cell's accompanying terminal, that forced her to convert the harsh Zebesian language into something she could understand.

And what she found filled her with a special sort of fury she reserved only for Ridley himself.

It was a log. And a short one at that:

_Science Log 6523-8_

_Experimentation continues to go as planned, subject is now 75% infused with space pirate DNA and Phazon. High Command would be proud of our success; if we had botched our first human test subject, they would have had our heads. _

The ship laughed playfully as she finished reading, its laughter fading into soft crying. Finally, someone who knew. Something who could stop it. Someone who could put it out of its misery.

It took a moment for the translated words to really sink in. _If we had botched our first human test subject._ Her teeth ground together and the frigate's sobs grew louder, a distinct rise in almost ethereal space bound noises. _Human test subject_. Samus glanced quickly behind herself. She was still alone, still all by herself in this room of white and sorrow and broken lives. _Human_. She looked back at the decrepit creature she had so easily written off as a Space Pirate.

_Make the horrors stop_, pleaded the frigate.

Samus did not stop to think of the repercussions of freeing what once had been a person. The consequences of saving this hybrid creature that most likely had Phazon for blood and radiation poisoning its thoughts. The simple fact remained: it was innocent and it had to be saved. For a moment, all the Hunter could do was stare. And now that she did, it was obvious that this filthy hybrid, clutching uselessly to her chest a tattered piece of fabric in a vain attempt to cover herself, was still clinging to her stolen life. Obvious that her dully shining yellow eyes still held, however dim it was, that fierce spark that refused to go out, though her dejected and malnourished state said otherwise.

"I will save you."

Somewhere down the hallways came the guttural, animalistic cry of Space Pirates, the sound working its way up through the floor and down through the ceiling and out of the vents in the walls. Whether or not the hybrid in the cell heard, she made no indication. She no longer cared. For all she knew, she was living a nightmare and waiting ever so patiently for it to end. Samus would end it.

So, with all the subtly of a rampaging rhinoceros, the Hunter brought up her cannon and fired but once. Instead of a super heated blast of plasma, an ordinary power beam smashed through the glass. Which got the hybrid's attention but good. And as the thick shards of glass fell to the floor, making obscure music as they hit steel, the half-breed in the lonely cell looked up. She was frightened, of course. Why wouldn't she be? For an indeterminate amount of time this cell had been her home, her one place of reprieve from the horrors she had been subjected to. In here she could sleep and forget her pains. In here she could look out and pretend she didn't see her reflection. In here, she could talk and talk and answer in a language only she knew. In here, she liked to believe she was safe, even though it was obvious she wasn't.

A monster of orange steel had broken into her lonely sanctuary. Shattered the door and brought in the horrors of the outside. Terrified, the hybrid backed up, pushing herself as far into the corner as she possibly could. Her mechanical feet scraped loudly against the floor and she uttered a small stream of harsh Zebesian, one vicious clawed hand held shaking before her face. A weak action, for sure, but one that made the Hunter stop. She sighed softly. She kneeled down. She held her hand out gently. She spoke.

"It's alright. I'm here to help."

The hybrid perked up at the spoken English, a language that had not graced her overly large ears in far, far too long. Hesitantly she lowered her arm, staring. The spark grew but one iota and gingerly she accepted the outstretched hand. Samus grasped it in return and pulled the hybrid to her feet. She wobbled for a moment on unsteady double jointed legs but remained standing.

"My name is Samus," the Hunter said simply, ignoring the increasingly louder calls of the advancing Space Pirates. This moment in time deserved respect. "Samus Aran. Do you remember yours?"

The hybrid groped for the right words, her mouth opening and closing like a confused fish. English was something she had not spoken aloud for months.

"T-t-" she stuttered hoarsely, and the Hunter could not help but wince at that broken and distorted voice. "Tej-" She took an unsteady breath and composed herself for a moment, trying to get her mouth and tongue and voice box to work synonymously once more. "…Tejed. T-Tejed Jenal." And at that she smiled shyly. She still remembered how to speak. And she still remembered her name.

A single screech of rage cut through the still air; evidently the Pirates had found Samus' ship and were no doubt furious at her presence. They had to leave now or else face a horde of space pirates head on, and yet the way the hybrid trembled uncertainly on her too long legs meant their escape wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Samus glanced down the room, eyeing the doorway she had come through. They had been idle for too long.

Firmly she grasped Tejed's hand and motioned towards the open door.

"My ship is docked that way. As of now it's our only escape."

Tejed perked up at the word 'escape', a hopeful smile spreading across her malformed features. It was almost too good to be true. She had dreamed of something like this happening every time she managed some sleep, and now it was coming true. If she could remember what it was like when she had still been human, she would have squealed like the little girl she was. Instead she remained silent and followed her saviour, tripping and stumbling over her own legs before she somehow managed to get them to follow her brain's demands. Somehow, her extended mechanical legs giving her an awkward gait, she managed to keep pace with Samus. And yet the Hunter in question could not help but feel the tiniest little tinge of annoyance blossoming on the far reaches of her cool, calm mind.

Tejed was slowing her down, even though she clearly didn't mean to. She was a victim, yes. An innocent. And as a bounty hunter Samus had to save the innocents. But the Space Pirates getting ever closer behind them was beginning to make the sweat run down Samus' cleanly mopped brow. She said nothing and continued to run down the corridor, getting ever closer to her ship. To their escape.

And then the laser fire began to fly.

Tejed yelped as a beam clipped her leg, causing the frail muscle to lock up. She stumbled and fell, the cold hard floor rushing up to meet her all too fast. The Pirates jumped at this chance and for a moment ignored the Hunter, clustering as one around their terrified experiment. Whirling swiftly Samus cocked her cannon and fired. The plasma beam cut through the pirates, incinerating a few and injuring many. Tejed gasped as the beam shot by a little too close for comfort, setting her wispy white hair into a dry fray. Without a thought for her own survival Samus rushed into the furious group of Pirates and took a stand in front of the fallen hybrid. Tejed peered up at the armour clad Hunter, admiration welling in her chest. The hybrid did not think of herself as anything special, and had acknowledged the fact that she would most likely die in that cell a long tome ago. That someone like Samus would come and risk almost everything to get her out alive, even if she had stumbled upon her by accident, made Tejed feel at the same time both guilty and delighted.

A Pirate's head exploded in a blast of searing heat, breaking Tejed out of her reverie, and hastily she scrambled to get up. Without saying anything and with a liquid grace that can only come from the harshness of battle, Samus grabbed her hand and made a dash down the hall, breaking out of the circle the pirates had created. They hissed and shrieked in frustration, and as Tejed raced down the hall with the Hunter she heard and understood their furious cries.

_"The Hunter is escaping!"_

_"She's taking Project TransFuse!"_

_"High Command will be furious!"_

All too soon they ran out of ear shot, where all that could be heard was a furious off kilter wailing not dissimilar from the creaking of the ship. Samus knew the gunship was close; a few more turns and there it would be, bright orange against the dull grays and silvers that surrounded them. If she could just get to the ship, she could take the hybrid to the nearest space station and drop her off, then get back to business and destroy this research vessel once and for all. Despite herself she was beginning to dislike the hybrid, though her better judgement told her none of this was Tejed's fault. And yet she couldn't help but view the pirate/human mix as a mere hindrance, when she could be getting so much more done. If she was alone right now she wouldn't be in this situation. She would most likely be at the bridge, setting the vessel on a crash course with the nearest star, a trail of dead pirates in her wake. Ah well, she thought. We'll get to the gunship soon enough.

Fate had other plans. They had only just turned the last bend before laser fire once again flew through the air. Samus cursed silently; the pirates had set up a blockage. There was no way around the shrieking wall and Samus could see the triumph in their blazing eyes. She didn't stop, not even to think, and when she was close enough to the pirates where she could smell their rank odour she dashed into a side room. It was only then that she stopped, if only for a second, plasma beam welding the door shut. The pirates hollered with rage and began to pound on the door. It would hold, but only for so long, and they could not stay in one position for any length of time.

Samus scanned the room. On the far side was another door that would hopefully open behind the block, and setting a brisk yet slow pace she started across the room, Tejed close behind. The hybrid took this time to regain what little strength she had. She had been sitting in that little cell for so long her muscles had atrophied, leaving her a weak version of her former self. She was surprised she could even stand, let alone run. The Hunter had come to a stop near the middle of the room and curiously Tejed approached her. Anything that could make Samus stop and stare had to be important.

Samus found herself staring at what looked like a crude rendition of her suit. Whatever purpose it served, it borrowed distinct elements from her power suit, and she knew right away the pirates would do nothing but harm with it. She would have to steal it, take it back to Federation headquarters where they would put in it under heavy security then return to the vessel and destroy it.

The sound of grinding steal filled the air and Samus knew they had, once more, been idle for too long. A pirate shriek filled the room as the creature wormed its way in through the hole it had created. Its brethren looked on from the other side and shouted what passed as words of encouragement in their guttural pirate tongue, and without pausing the pirate aimed his weapon and fired. The beam passed over Samus' head and without hesitation she took off through the door, Tejed and, unfortunately, the pirate close on her heels. The bright shock of orange that signalled her ship had only just come into view when she was struck from behind by a single beam. She faltered, vision fluttering, and without a sound fell. It only took a second for the pirate to leap onto her still form and hold her down, weapon pushed into the side of her helmet.

"Any last words, Hunter?" he croaked.

Tejed watched from afar, anger welling in her mind, and in a momentary spurt of rage launched herself at the pirate, knocking the surprised creature from Samus' prone form. She simply could not sit back and watch as her one saviour was killed on the spot, and that one thought driving her fetched the pirate's weapon and aimed it at his head. The pirate's blazing eyes dimmed a little, and for a brief second registered one emotion: fear. Tejed pulled the trigger, and the pirate fell limp to the floor. She did not feel any guilt at killing the creature as she ran to Samus' side and helped her to her feet. The Hunter merely looked her over once.

"Thank you," she stated. It was a blunt response but Tejed glowed at the praise. The victim has spirit, Samus thought. She's not just an unlucky experiment, she's a survivor.

Angry growls signalled the advancing Pirates, prompting the Hunter and the hybrid to rush to the gunship. Samus immediately took up the controls, Tejed taking up residence in what little space there was in the back. The Pirates came into view as the gunship's engines roared to life, and with a smell of burning sulphur the ship took off.

Tejed smiled wide as she watched the vessel slowly grow smaller and smaller. At long last, freedom! The gunship gained speed, the research vessel growing yet smaller at an increasingly faster rate. The ship's sensors started beeping. Tejed's ear twitched as she turned to Samus. Though the Hunter's smooth, calm movements spoke of no danger Tejed knew otherwise. She glanced back at the vessel, euphoria fading into dread. Tiny little fighter ships were pouring from the frigate. They were small, like gnats, though large in number, and posed a real threat. Red beams sliced through the void with a sound like tinkling chimes.

Samus cranked the gunship hard left, narrowly avoiding the beams and throwing Tejed to the ground. She had just regained her balance when the ship careened again, this time to the right. Laser fire sounded from outside, though strangely muffled by the vacuum of space. The gunship's own weapons fire joined the battle, a deep bass rumble that vibrated the ship with every fire. Samus was calm at the controls, as if she had been through this a million times and more. The fighters went down easily, their thin metal covering as weak as they looked, and all too soon the frenzied dance was over as fast as it had started. Tejed let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and looked back, glad to see that the research vessel was too far away to be seen anymore. She looked back to Samus, opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and remained silent, looking once again out to space.

Her breath caught in her throat. A single fighter was making a beeline from the side. Evidently Samus did not see it, nor did the ship sense it, for she made no inclination to move and the ship wasn't blaring its alarm. A stray shot from a fighter must have knocked out the sensors, and not stopping to think of the complications Tejed rushed forwards and roughly pushed the surprised Hunter out of her seat, the gunship whipping around. A muffled boom marked the firing of the ship's weapons, and as Samus watched the fighter exploded silently. She looked back to Tejed, catching a look of grim determination before gently nudging her out and reclaiming her seat.

Not everyone can not only survive capture by a race as belligerent as the Space Pirates, and live to avenge it. It takes a strong mind and body, a determination surpassing the norm, and a powerful will to do what has to be done. Begrudgingly Samus realized she was growing to respect the dishevelled hybrid that reminded her so much of herself, and with that made up her mind. She would procure that suit, not for the Federation, but for Tejed.

And the frigate, still deep in uncharted space and just as lonely as ever, uttered in its curious way two simple words that the Hunter heard anyway, regardless of the expanse of emptiness separating them: _Thank you…

* * *

_

Tejed sighed as she stared out into deep space. Though the view was no doubt spectacular, littered as it was with all manner of beautiful cosmic phenomena, to Tejed it offered nothing more than a quiet respite from her surroundings. Though it wasn't the dingy cell block of a pirate ship she resided in, the truth was just as bad. And in many ways far worse. After escape Samus had dropped her off, quite hastily, on a space station at the very edge of Federation space. She vaguely remembered the station's name: Ceres II. Tejed's memory wasn't really what it used to be anymore and that simple thought saddened her something awful.

But the fact that Ceres II was populated solely by scientists with some sort of addiction to poking things with sharp objects was merely an annoyance, as Tejed found her mere presence tended to set them on edge.

"Have I become so alien that even my own species rejects me?" she muttered, fogging up the window in the process. Absently she brought up a three fingered hand and began drawing simple shapes in the fog. The act did not make her feel any better. A faint knock came from her door.

"Come in," she croaked, her voice for a moment catching in her throat as though it did not want to leave. She didn't really blame it. It wasn't exactly pretty to listen to. On cue a straggly little scientist popped his balding head into the room, buggy eyes surveying Tejed with fear and contempt. She sort of half turned to look at him and he sneered. Her mood dropped even lower.

"You're due for another round of tests, Ms. Jenal. West wing, room 365, three minutes."

Without hesitation he promptly withdrew, the patterings of his hard black shoes sounding hastily down the hall. With a sigh Tejed arose and exited the room. Walking the sterile white hallways she got the same responses, and deep down she really couldn't blame them. The first time she had seen herself in a mirror was quite a shock, indeed and she remembered it quite clearly. Samus had shown her her new room. Tejed had taken a hesitant step in, still nervous and shy. And the first thing to greet her had been the huge mirror inset into the far wall. Tejed remembered freezing and staring, caught almost hypnotically by the gaze of her own yellow eyes. It had taken Samus a few minutes to snap the hybrid out of it, and even then Tejed had sat on her bed and did nothing but stare into the mirror for hours.

It wasn't just the space pirate features that had been so disturbing. Her face wasn't all that nice, to start off. A pair of sharp maxillae framed her mouth and her chin had a very distinct split in it, a split that ran about halfway down her neck. A split bottom jaw, just like a Space Pirate. Second to the mouthparts was her chitinous skin, but even that wasn't really a big deal. The way it melded smoothly into supple flesh, on the other hand, was more than a little disturbing. In fact, Tejed mused, it was what lay just below the surface that seemed to disturb people the most. Her included. At first glance she was just another alien, a Space Pirate. Nothing really special. But on closer inspection, when one saw the strangely familiar facial features, hidden as they were, and with a shudder realized that she had been _human _at one time, that's when they started to get out of her way.

And then there were the few scientists who looked at her not with fear, but with pity. She was staring to think she hated them more. They did not avert her eyes when she walked by, instead they stared with solemn expressions and it was Tejed that hastily looked away, unable to take their looks without crying, herself.

And then there was the Hunter, reactions hidden behind that glossy visor. Emotions from such an entity can be hard, almost impossible to guess, but Tejed had felt not contempt, nor even pity from her armour clad saviour. She didn't know what she felt from Samus' presence, but whatever it was, it made her feel almost human again. Maybe it was the budding seeds of friendship. And maybe Tejed was just delusional, hoping dearly for someone to talk to, and the Hunter in reality hated every fibre of her mutated being.

That thought threatened to bring more tears to her eyes and Tejed quickly pushed it away. She would not allow herself to cry, not here in front of these scientists that hated her almost as much as she hated herself.

She came to a stop room 365 and after a hesitant moment walked in. The scientist therein was quick in his actions. He was one of the few that showed her utter disdain, and she hated every second of it. He treated her as no less than some animal, even as he promised her humanity. In one deft move he stuck her with a needle, drew her blood, and waved her out, as though the mere presence of her set his skin prickling.

"That'll be all, Ms. Jenal. You can go back to your room now."

He peered at her over his clipboard, a derisive sneer playing on his thin lips as she left. Tejed paid him no heed as she walked down the brightly lit halls back to her one respite from the contemptuous grins that seemed to follow her everywhere. This wasn't exactly what she had been expecting when the Hunter saved her all those weeks ago. But then, she figured it was better here than on Earth, where billions of people would do what only a few hundred here would. And on top of that, it was far better here than on that frigate. How long had she been on the frigate for? She didn't rightly know. She wasn't even sure of her age…

She entered her room and without a thought flopped down face first onto her bed, forcing herself to feel even a tiny bit of happiness. It was near impossible. Instead she closed her eyes and buried her face in her pillow, slipping quickly into blessed unconsciousness. She hadn't realized how tired she was…

_Calls of pain and torment echoed down the red lit halls. Tejed held her hands to her ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound but it still came through. She curled up into a tight ball and started sobbing, hot tears instantly vaporizing in the steamy cell. _

"_Who are you?" she screamed into the surrounding darkness. No one answered, save the cacophonous screams that continued day and night, if day and night even existed anymore. _

"_Why won't you let me be?" A guttural growl came from outside the cell, and on looking up Tejed found herself staring into the grizzled face of a space pirate, all chitinous armour and dagger teeth. _

"_Who are you?" she sobbed. Suddenly the pirate lurched forward, its three clawed hand tightening around Tejed's neck, and with a shock she realized it was not a cell that she looked out of, but a mirror she looked into. _

"_I'm _you_."_

The hybrid awoke with a start, crumpled blankets falling to the floor in a heap. She put a hand to her face, only to have it come away wet with tears. Her breath evened and her heart slowed as she glanced towards the window. A piece of space borne debris floated serenely past, oblivious to her torment.

"It was just a dream," she muttered, head falling back onto the pillow. "Just a dream...a nightmare..." Her eyes closed and with a sigh her breathing once again returned to normal. She tried to fall asleep again, this time hoping avidly for a normal dream. A knock came at the door, shattering her peaceful, if somewhat melancholy, mood.

"Come in," she snapped irritably. More of those pesky scientists, she thought with an air of disgust. They probably didn't even want anything this time. They probably just wanted to point and laugh at the local attraction and wonder how the poor thing managed to live knowing what it was. She didn't hold it past them to do such a thing.

The door opened and closed. Tejed's eyes remained screwed shut, waiting the inevitable calls of disgust. She would never get used to them, regardless of the tough façade she tried and failed to put up.

"I'd think you'd be more excited…" came a soft female voice.

Tejed's eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly, a smile creeping onto her normally sullen features. For a brief, brief moment, she wasn't a Space Pirate hybrid. She was a tiny little girl. And her best friend and just come back.

"You're back!" she exclaimed, at once curious as to the Hunter's arrival and full of joy. Samus waved a hand in dismissal and strode from the room, Tejed scrambling to follow. Suddenly she was a Pirate again, the looks brought on by the scientists they passed rekindling that hatred and disgust she still felt for herself. But… There was something else in their eyes, another emotion Tejed had never seen from them. Fear. Reverence. They respected the Hunter clad in orange, and by her side that emotion was transferred to her, as well. With a bit of effort, Tejed managed to stand straight, instead of hunched over. It felt good to be feared instead of hated and she smiled.

They came to a stop in front of the cargo bay doors and without a word Samus entered, Tejed close behind. Samus slowed to a stop by her gunship and turned to Tejed, who stood silent and unsure. Whatever the Hunter was thinking was a mystery, obscured as she was by helmet and suit.

"What do you feel about the space pirates?"

Tejed was taken aback by the abrupt question and sort of half cocked her head to the side, turning halfway to the cargo bay windows, mind reliving the time she spent in their research facility. She gazed at the myriad stars as she spoke, voice faraway and dull.

"They're a horrible race, after nothing except their own petty greeds, unfettered by 'weak' human emotions." She looked back to Samus, a dark gleam entering her eye even as one hand played nervously with her hair, twisting around and around a strand of stray white.

"They're thieves and murderers, and they stole the one thing I cherished the most: my humanity." Samus didn't respond. Tejed felt something, something far back at the very edge of her consciousness shift slightly at her emotions, something that had grown in silence since day one of her capture, and her anger and resentment grew.

"I would kill them if given the chance; make them suffer for their sins. I will destroy them."

Without a word Samus disappeared into her gunship, Tejed's anger vanishing almost as abruptly as it had come on. She shook her head slightly and promptly forgot about it, for it wasn't important. When Samus exited her ship after a moment, Tejed perked up. This _was_ important. No words were spoken, for their was no need. Apparently whatever Samus had brought back, it was heavy, for the hover transport used to carry it was having minor problems of its own. It whined in protest and hissed in dismay but did its job anyway, and Samus brought the huge container around the a slow stop in front of Tejed. The Hunter reached up and fiddled with the locking apparatus: first on the left side, then on the right. Then in the back. And finally she came to the front and stopped, staring hard for a moment at the hybrid before simply walking to the side and nodding at it. The last lock, and it was Tejed's to open.

Hesitantly she approached it. The lock looked simple enough to disengage: nothing more than a hatch that needed pulling. So Tejed brought her arms up and pulled, hard, the lock for a moment sticking in place before falling noisily off. She jumped back, surprised. But the heavy steel contained remained immobile. The hover transport whined once more. Confused, Tejed cocked her head to the other side and stared.

With a hiss of rapidly escaping air the container fell apart. Its four walls simply fell loudly to the ground, and frightened Tejed brought her hands up and covered her ears, crying out in a surprised chitter exactly once. The abrupt noise was loud and it hurt her sensitive ears. Underneath her helmet, Samus smiled. When the hybrid finally pulled her hands away and looked up she found herself face to face with the suit from the frigate. Its burnished copper exterior glinted dully in the artificial light. She looked at Samus in confusion, mouth half open in preparation to ask the question: why?

"It's for you. I went back to the pirate vessel where you were captured. They made it especially for themselves."

She did not add how she had failed to destroy the vessel. Just as Samus Aran had a long running feud with Ridley, so she felt this hybrid would have the same relationship with the frigate she had been found on. It was her frigate to destroy, not Samus'. Just as Ridley we her foe to annihilate, and no one else's.

Tejed had approached the suit, her malformed clawed hand running softly over its smooth exterior. It was like an ancient version of Samus' suit, what with its dials and levers and exposed piping running up the arms, through the plates of steel. It was apparent it was made for a Space Pirate and no one else. Its double jointed legs ended in a haphazard confusion of steel and Tejed glanced down at her legs, at where the flesh from her knees gave way to cold mechanical steel. She looked back up at the suit, eyes straying on the helmet. It stared back, cold and emotionless, its jet black visor framed by bulky steel rivets. It was, in many ways, more formidable then what Samus herself wore. Where the Hunter's power suit was streamlined and efficient, this one was exactly the opposite. It was a tank. It was meant to take massive damage and inflict even more. It was meant to go slow, not fast, and destroy anyone in its way.

As Tejed gazed into that visor it seemed to be speaking to her, its voice a gentle tide ebbing and flowing in her subconscious. It wanted her and its passenger. It was made for her. It would accept no one else.

"There's a regulation one-man research ship by the main doors with a few hundred credits inside. Take it, go to Earth, and go straight to Federation headquarters. They'll give you the job you want. The coordinates have already been set."

Tejed jerked awake, tearing her eyes from the suit. Samus had turned to leave, was already in the doorway to her gunship.

"Wait!" The hunter stopped and turned to Tejed, who for a moment forgot how to speak. "…Why are you helping me?"

Samus stared at her silently. When she finally spoke her voice was devoid of emotion.

"You remind me of myself."

And then she was gone, nothing to mark her presence but a faint vapour trail and a rapidly diminishing speck of light, and with time, that was gone, too. Tejed looked back at the suit, then at the tiny ship by the cargo doors. Once again she let her fingers drift over that burnished copper, lingering for a moment over the steel shoulder guards. Three bolts lined the guards and absently she felt her own shoulders, fingers straying over the three steel lined holes mirrored on herself. If anything, the pirates didn't make the suit for themselves, but for her. She shuddered and walked around to the back of the suit, inspecting the line of bolts that ran down the spine, dimly aware of the holes mirrored on her own back.

"What did they _really_ want me for?" she muttered. Transparent tubing ran over and under the armour, and Tejed couldn't fathom its purpose. She let out a breath and approached the suit a last time. A glass port on its chest showed gears, gears that remained stubbornly immobile. She knocked on the glass front and it echoed hollowly inside the suit.

"Well, it's now or never."

Reaching up she unbuckled a pair of hatches on the chest piece, causing the whole front of the suit to swing open. She was greeted with nothing overly spectacular; the inside of the suit was just as dull and listless as the outside. Actually, it looked downright uncomfortable. There was no padding or anything to protect its occupant from the hard metal interior. The suit was built for purpose, not for comfort, and second thoughts flashed across Tejed's mind before she finally decided to climb in. She clambered awkwardly up the cumbersome suit before sliding smoothly in. Surprisingly it wasn't the least bit uncomfortable. The suit fit like a glove and once again Tejed couldn't help but wonder if the suit was indeed made just for her.

Something in the suit started to whir and without warning the chest piece snapped shut. Sudden panic fluttered in Tejed's mind. She gasped in pain and clutched at her shoulder as the bolts wound their way into their matching sockets. Red blood with a tinge of green oozed from her shoulders, hissing softly as it hit the steel, as the process repeated itself on her back, ending with a pressurized hiss and a sharp pain in the base of her neck. She fell to her knees and gasped for breath, body shuddering. Slowly, with a sound like grinding rocks, the gears started to turn, and with a pained grunt Tejed stood.

There was no doubt about it now, for some reason the pirates had fashioned a suit with her in mind. They had plans that didn't end with her escape, though what they were at this time was anyone's guess.

Tejed bent to retrieve the helmet then started towards the small ship, stumbling slightly at this new weight. It centered around her shoulders and legs and for a moment Tejed wondered if Samus had gone through this as well at one time. Gradually though her body adjusted, and growing more used to its cumbersome weight she slid the helmet on. She was at once greeted with an almost dizzying array of information ranging from the simple targeting reticule to the more advanced life support and danger notification systems. Though it looked like a piece of copper junk the suit was the most technologically complex thing Tejed had ever encountered, and as she crawled into the cramped interior of the ship she smiled.

Today was the dawning of a new life. She hadn't just been given a sparkly new suit, she had been given a respite from hate, a wall she could stay safely behind, a weapon of destruction she could unleash against the space pirates once and for all. The engines sputtered to life and the ship sped out into space. There was only one job she wanted from the Federation at this time, and it and only it would give her what she craved.

Revenge came with a simple title: bounty hunter.


	2. Chapter 2

_Journal Entry 32225: Day Seventeen_

_I don't even know how I remember English anymore. Every day it's space pirates growling and barking commands. If it weren't for this journal, the only thing they let me keep, I'd probably have forgotten long ago. It's my only link to what I once was, and even that's fading fast. I may as well keep any scrap of humanity I can find, even as they drain it away day after day after day…_

_-Tejed Jenal

* * *

_

"Oh, Earth. How I've missed you so."

The shiny white exterior of the one man research ship Tejed 'borrowed' from Ceres II shone with a brightness rivalled only by the sun, a brightness that grew in some empty place of Tejed's heart as the brilliant orb of the Earth came closer and closer. She smiled and came in slowly in a gentle arc, having all the time in the world and never wanting to leave this sight. But all things must come to an end, and as she entered the Earth's shadow a Federation vessel came into view off the starboard hull and a voice crackled over the intercom.

"Unregistered ship, please be still while we identify you. I repeat, please be still while we identify."

A wide beam emerged out from the underside of the federation vessel and in one giant sweep scanned Tejed, her ship, and everything inside and around it. She felt a curious tingling as the beam passed over her body before it retreated back into the ship. With what sounded like a sad sigh the federation vessel turned its great hull back towards Earth and slowly started away.

"Permission granted for planet fall. Welcome back to Earth."

Tejed smiled big, so big that if she smiled any bigger she was sure her face would break, and with a contented sigh and the faintest traces of a tear made for the planet; it had been far too long.

* * *

The dinky little research ship came to a stop on a paved tarmac, various other ships of all shapes and sizes scattered all around. The engines stopped and the ship quieted. Tejed hesitated at the controls. Outside was a busy fanfare of people, all races and creeds. Far off in the distance, spearing the sky like a great pike, was Federation HQ.

"Seriously? What am I afraid of?" The words echoes dully in the enclosed space. She knew right away what it was; too much time spent alone in a cell. Tejed had never been much for socializing. She was by nature shy and timid, and large groups of people never were for her.

She took a deep breath and arose from the command chair, a hand closing gently around the door handle.

"It's now or never."

She opened the door, and her world exploded with sound.

* * *

The gilded hallways of the Federation building, though rife with activity, were strangely hushed. Tejed's armoured feet echoed loudly down the halls as she approached the doors to the main room and without a second thought burst in. A group of five aliens cluttered around a desk instantly looked up to the rude intrusion, confusion adorning many of their features. Where she once would have hesitated Tejed instead walked right up to the desk and looked each creature in the eye, landing finally on the last, a tall human in a Federation uniform; undoubtedly a colonel.

"I want a job," she said bluntly, the thick steel of the suit making her raspy voice deep and intimidating. The colonel looked her over.

"A bounty hunter?"

He turned back to his comrades, all of whom issued him a shrug and were just as lost as he. He turned back to Tejed, a sigh escaping his throat.

"We'd love t'help ya, son, but we've already got all the help w'need. Why don't you come back some other time?"

His voice was distinctly southern with a deep bass rumble. If it weren't for his uniform he'd no doubt be right at home on a porch deck with a shotgun, an alligator sitting complacently at his feet. Tejed wiped the obscure image from her head and made no inclination to move, visibly unnerving the small group. She smiled. She'd never felt this sure of herself, and made a brief mental note to thank Samus if ever they should meet again.

The colonel eyed her nervously before finally giving in, and with an outstretched hand welcomed her to the Federation.

"What shall we be calling you, then?"

Tejed eyed the hand before grabbing it with a firm shake.

"Tejed."

At this the group of aliens relaxed visibly and became to chat amongst themselves, leaving Tejed and the colonel, who later introduced himself as Jim Shaw, to discuss her first bounty.

* * *

Tejed flicked through her reports as the ship came into view, ludicrously small against the gunships that surrounded it. Her first bounty was rather small: the successful apprehension of one Mike Gallegher, a wiry little thief who, though pathetically underpowered, had proved himself to be a slippery little imp who made quite the earnings twisting through the city. Tejed was busy memorizing his face when someone walked right into her, causing the reports to clatter noisily to the ground. She turned to the intruder, sunlight glinting dully off her suit.

"Damn, I'm sorry, let me get that."

Tejed made no move to help as the man carefully picked up her reports, inadvertently reading them as he did so.

"A new bounty hunter?"

A smile broke across his features as he returned the reports and extended his hand.

"Let me be the first to formally welcome you! Name's Gin Phoenix."

Tejed took the reports and merely stared at him. She had all but lost any social skills she had before the space pirates captured her, as evidenced by her earlier stunt in Federation HQ. Here she was, at a total loss, some strange man she could only surmise as another bounty hunter holding his hand out in greeting. She stared at it before taking it and giving a gentle shake.

"There we go!" smiled Gin. In spite of herself something about the man's attitude rekindled her lost happiness, and she found herself smiling at his good will. Something beeped on Gin's wrist, grabbing his attention. After a moment he turned back to Tejed and smiled.

"I had best be going. Good luck with your first bounty!"

And with that he was gone, short black hair and almost creepy optimism melting into the crowds. Tejed surveyed the crowds before climbing aboard her ship and taking off.

* * *

Mike Gallegher was living up to his reputation as a tricky little thief, and Tejed was getting more and more frustrated by the second. And it wasn't just that he was slippery, oh no, he had a personality that was best explained as rubbing one's face on sandpaper. He was obnoxious, he was cocky, and he had a really back habit of calling Tejed 'Fed Monkey', much to her growing chagrin. And the fact that as a prank he dropped a bucket of ice cream on her head was not helping matters.

"Hey, Fed Monkey, up here!"

Tejed looked up and jumped out of the way just in time, barely missing a half gallon of whipping cream. It struck the ground and splattered everywhere, including Tejed herself. She glared up but saw him nowhere.

"Get your skinny little ass down here!" she roared, voice reverberating about the abandoned building she was stationed in. She was answered with raucous laughter and with a low growl crawled up out of the hole in the roof. A sunny vista of rooftops stretching into the horizon greeted her, complete with laughing madman prancing with his stolen goods. She took a step towards him, only to watch him disappear, once again, down between two buildings, and with a determined glint to her eye jumped back through the hole, the building trembling slightly under her weight, her bio-mechanical legs absorbing the blow like shock absorbers. Thin clouds of dust billowed from shaking rafters.

"I know you're here somewhere," she breathed, the words holding far more malevolence than intended. Something clattered to her right and quick as a flash Tejed whirled towards it, regulation energy pistol cocked and aimed. A rat wormed its way out of a pile of debris and scurried across the floor, squeaking at her in annoyance. Tejed lowered the weapon.

A jubilant cry of maniacal success sounded from the shadows and before Tejed could react the wiry little man had wound himself around her neck, a piece of shattered concrete in his hand repeatedly striking her helmet with the sound of ringing steel. Without thinking Tejed reached back and grabbed the man's arm, nearly breaking it as she yanked him from her back and threw him to the floor. His head cracked sharply against the concrete but he did not fall unconscious. Tejed grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and thrust him into the air, masked face staring into his terrified eyes.

"You filthy piece of swine," she growled, a growl that sounded less human and more like the guttural croak of a space pirate. Gallegher shivered at her voice, filled as it was with nothing short of hatred. Something far off in the inner recesses of her mind had switched off, some sort of mental failsafe that left her devoid of self control. She cocked her weapon and punched it into the man's temple, finger closing on the trigger. A bead of sweat trickled down his face and splattered to the ground. Gone was the amusement from his face.

"P-please. Don't kill me."

His voice sounded so small and insignificant, far different from the childish insults that spilled from his mouth not minutes earlier. Tejed blinked and shook her head. The switch had come back on and she now stared at the man with confusion. What had happened right there, that she was so willing to end the life of a man she didn't really even know?

She put away the gun and slapped a pair of cuffs around his wrists.

"We're going to the Federation."

* * *

A restrained Gallegher flew across the room and fell into a heap, thoroughly startling both Jim and the group of aliens that always seemed to be in his office. Close behind stood Tejed, tinted visor revealing nothing and betraying no emotion. She simply held out a hand and reluctantly Jim provided payment and a new set of reports. Without a word she strode from the room.

Her second bounty went without incident and no sudden shift in personality, much to her relief. It was only as she was walking towards her ship once again, a third set of reports in hand that she was approached by none other than Gin, a cheerful look in his eye.

"Third bounty already?"

He had discreetly read her reports again, a fact that was beginning to bother her. He flashed her a smile, tanned skin and icy blue eyes radiating optimism. It almost made her sick. Almost. A helmet was clutched by his side; it was obvious he had a bounty of his own. She merely glanced at it. Gin caught her action and his face lit up.

"I have a bounty of my own, gonna leave soon. It's near the center of the galaxy."

Tejed didn't really hear him, she was too busy trying to figure what his handle was. Was he stalking her or what? He tended to show up when least expected and flash that disarming smile of his, and though she saw him as a mere annoyance there seemed to be some good in his heart. She turned her back and started towards her ship. Gin didn't seem phased by her disinterest and waved happily before walking off himself. Tejed paused in the entryway and turned back, but he was gone. Soundlessly she started the ship and took off.

* * *

"In the middle of some alien forest? What the hell?"

Tejed rambled on to herself as she stalked through the blue trunked trees, vines and brambles barring her way. She had taken to talking to herself ever since capture by the space pirates, and in the habit of lonely people and hermits frequently held complex conversations when no one was around. This time was no different.

"Of all the places in the galaxy they send me here…what a dump. It's all trees and swampland. When I get back to HQ, I swear…" At this point she unconsciously broke into a string of growled pirate before switching back into English, finally stopping when she found herself in an open clearing. Far above the sky shone light green, streaked with the orange of alien clouds made up of strange gasses.

With a sigh Tejed retrieved from her pack the reports and began to read them aloud. Far off in the distance the trees shook. She paid them no heed.

"…for illegal tech smuggling and crimes against the Federation, Gerrick von Shackenfreude is wanted for immediate arrest. Last sighted on an unnamed planetoid orbiting Tau Ceti. Approach with extreme caution, subject is volatile and aggressive. Known aliases include 'ShackleBolt'."

Tejed lowered the report and glanced upwards towards the trees. A flock of birds ascended towards the sky. The trees shuddered again, bringing with them a deep bass tremble. Deep down Tejed felt sick.

"Something tells me this is going to be far from good."

Right on cue the trees parted, bringing into view a massive machine of alien origin. It stood on three immense legs and for all the world reminded her of a giant steel tripod. It turned towards her, tinted cockpit window leaving the machine's pilot unknown. A voice crackled out from a loudspeaker situated atop the cockpit, distinctly male and with a bitter edge.

"The Federation sent you to deal with me, did they?" Hoarse cackling ensued. "You've read the reports then, my dear hunter. Did they say how many they sent? No? That's because every one of them dies."

Without warning the machine lurched forward, previously hidden arms tipped with saw blades perforating the soft earth where Tejed had only mere seconds ago been. She ceased her inane babble, mind set on the task at hand.

The machine loped after her, its legs, though undoubtedly powerful, leaving it with a slow cantering walk. Where it walked it left deep gouges in the soft soil.

"Keep still, god damnit!" roared the now enraged Gerrick. But Tejed was not one to take orders, and as she dashed around the frantically moving legs, from under the cockpit of the machine emerged an immense cannon, from which in turn issued a blast which blew away a chunk of earth, leaving a crater as large around as the machine itself. Chunks of moist soil rained down around Tejed and the machine. The air smelled distinctly of earth and steel with a hint of roasted almonds and burnt hair.

"Jesus Christ that was too close," muttered Tejed, the right side of her suit glowing faintly from the heat of the blast. By now the cannon had centered on Tejed again, and with inhuman speed she just managed to dodge the beam. The air crackled around it and another chunk of earth exploded.

"You'll have to better than that!" goaded Tejed.

The machine whirled to face her, its occupant no doubt fuming, and started towards her, mechanical blades slicing through the air with barely contained malice. Without hesitation Tejed ran right towards it, one of the blades nicking her suit in a shower of sparks causing her to stumble slightly, which was just enough for one of the machine's legs to wham her in the chest and send her to the now muddy ground. It dug into her chest as the cockpit came closer, the glass swivelling open to reveal the gnarled face of Gerrick himself, skin and mind made hard and brutal by decades of illegal smuggling. He smiled a toothy grin.

"What have we here? Little bird got its wings clipped." He laughed again, the hoarse chuckle a grim façade for the underhanded and conniving nature residing just below the surface. If Tejed could spit in his face now was a pretty good time. Gerrick ceased his laughter, his crooked face turning thoughtful.

"How shall I deal with my prey now, hmm?"

Tejed made no sound. Somewhere above, deep in the green and orange streaked sky came the low hissing roar of spacecraft engines. Gerrick seemed not to notice, and as he continued his thoughtful dialogue detailing how he was going to rip, shred, and otherwise exterminate Tejed from behind him came the form of a space pirate vessel, and at that moment Tejed's heart stopped. It was too far off to notice them but oh did she notice it. Its blackened hull gleamed in the light of Tau Ceti and as quickly as it came it was once again gone.

"The space pirates," she breathed, mind going back to the cell and slowly filling with an old hatred. She was not here to run petty errands for the Federation; she had started all this because of her hatred and anger, emotions she would always feel until the space pirates were gone. Her mind was strangely clear, a single goal overriding all her other thoughts: revenge.

"…and when you're lying there, all limbless and bloodied the last thing you see will be me."

Gerrick smiled again, not realizing how close he had come to Tejed, and with a superhuman bout of strength in one fell swoop she freed an arm and clutched the man around the throat, yanking him free of the cockpit and flinging him to the ground. Now without external stimulus the machine slumped to the ground, its leg coming free of Tejed's chest. She rose from the mud and turned towards the unconscious Shacklebolt. He seamed so pitiful without the guile shrouding his features or his machine protecting him, and with no emotions except cold anger to cloud her thoughts Tejed returned with him to her ship.

* * *

"Tejed, Tejed. Y'all are gonna have to stop flinging criminals over my polished floor."

Jim Shaw sat at his desk, fingers rubbing his temples exasperatedly. Across from him stood Tejed, a now conscious Gerrick von Shackenfreude bound, ironically, by shackles in the center of the room. He stared pleadingly at Jim but the colonel paid him no heed, all his attention on Tejed.

"I've told you already, you 'ave to bring 'em to th-"

"-no."

Jim stopped mid sentence and stared hard at Tejed. He gaped like a fish out of water, mouthing the word over and over before replying himself.

"…no?"

Tejed approached the desk and leaned on it, Jim flinching slightly as she did so. He couldn't see past her helmet and thus couldn't see the turmoil of emotions rushing over her features, a grim tapestry of anger, hate, and sought after revenge. Yet Tejed's words came calm and contained, devoid of emotion in an almost eerie fashion.

"I'm through being your lap dog. I came her for one reason and with only one bounty in mind."

Jim didn't respond, prompting on of the aliens to voice his unspoken question.

"Who's that?" it asked, flute like voice marred with uncertainty. Tejed turned to face him, golden light flashing on her tinted visor and filling the small group with fear.

"The space pirates."


	3. Chapter 3

_Journal Entry 32237 : Day 29_

_Something broke yesterday. Something hidden deep inside my mind, in a far off area I didn't even know existed. I felt it twisted for a while now, its curious ethereal weight a constant yet gentle nudge at the back of my all too cluttered mind. I had ignored it until finally it broke from the strain, raining discordant strings of shattered notes across my fevered brain. Yet even as I lost something no doubt crucial, I felt a weight lifted from my mind. Everything is so clear now; there is no more doubt or worry. The pirates did more good than harm when they broke me, whether they know it or not. I think I know what they broke: my sanity; and as my growing insanity slowly takes over they will rue the day they ever tampered with my being. As they die one by one by my hands, the last thing they see will be my sadistic grin, and as a collective they will shudder, for them and only them will know the horror they have unleashed._

_As they die my name will be all too clear on their minds: Tejed Jenal, experiment # 11056, Project Transfuse; their hunter, their torturer, their executioner, and their very own angel of death.

* * *

_

Once again Tejed found herself out in the vastness of space, nothing to keep her company but the stars and her voice, cracked and distorted as it was. Her helmet lay on the floor by the command chair, leaving her long white hair and crinked antennae piled on the floor. It felt so very good to be without her helmet. She had been wearing it almost continuously for the past two days and she had almost forgotten that her face could, indeed, feel things. Like the small breeze blowing on her from overhead fans. Her mind was on other things, though. Dark things that she didn't really realize she was thinking.

"…a pirate's head. That's what I'm getting for this ship, a pirate's head. I will mount it right… there!" She pointed disdainfully to the nose cone of the ship and smirked. "I'll keep it glued there with its own blood, a reminder to anyone who dares cross me." She prepared to spit, a rather disgusting habit she had developed to show her disdain of all things Zebesian, before grumbling and swallowing it instead. There was no point dirtying up her only method of transporation. She glanced out the window to her left, catching sight of her reflection in the process. She sighed.

"I was talking to myself again, wasn't I?" The ship groaned its affirmative response and with a sigh she turned back to the front. It had turned into a nasty little habit, talking to herself. Most of the time she didn't even realize she was doing it until someone uncomfortably pointed it out or she caught herself in the act. "I have to stop that. It's turning into a really bad habit. What happens if someone catches me? They'll think I'm insane…" Silence filled the cramped vessel. Without thinking she unconsciously reached for the reports and began reading aloud, slipping right back into her talkative habit.

"Somewhere in the region of Proxima Centari… space pirate frigate, theorized to be naught but a cargo vessel..."

She put away the reports and closed her eyes as she leaned back, plunging the tiny ship into darkness as she did so. Her eyes emitted their own dull yellow light and were sensitive enough to cut through darkness. Too much light and her eyes hurt, so she had taken to turning off any and all lights for the sake of comfort. If she hadn't been so obscene to look at, she mused, she could have gotten used to such abilities.

"Cargo vessel means nothing. Space pirates is space pirates and that's the end of that."

Once again the old hatred sparked itself but just as quickly died. As much as she hated the space pirates now was not a time to get all riled up over them. She opened her eyes once more. Outside the stars shone brightly, a stark reminder of her insignificance. She snorted.

"I never did like space all that much," she muttered with a sneer. "Makes me feel small. Damn it, this is taking forever! Why didn't I spend some credits on a hyper drive or something? It's like plodding through space with a turtle for an engine." The joke hadn't been funny. She chuckled morbidly anyhow. The ship groaned once and the scanner beeped, low, insistent. _There's something here_, it urged. _I found something for you_. Eagerly the hybrid peered ahead, searching the tapestry of stars for her prey. And there it was. A blackness different than the blackness of deep space, a deep pool of dark where no stars shone. Tejed had arrived. She grinned, oblivious to the sadistic undertones her smile harboured.

"There you are," she whispered. If she wasn't alone, her occupant would've blanched at her words. Laden heavily with anger and hate, there was an undercurrent of sadistic glee to her voice, undercurrents that went unnoticed to their speaker, engrossed as she was in the ship that had appeared. And yet it was because she was alone that the words held so much force, and as she put on her helmet and once again entered the mindset of a hunter the pirate vessel grew in size until it filled every window on the ship.

The blackened metal of the frigate shone like hardened tar as Tejed docked. Finally, revenge, if only but a part. She rose from the command chair and spread her arms in perverse greeting as the door to the ship opened, and the maniacal look etched into her features boarded the frigate.

"Your loyal experiment has returned," she crooned. "And boy, is she pissed."

The only welcome she got was a low groan and a sharp creak. And she entered the ship alone, the darkness swallowing her almost lovingly.

Far behind, far off in space and closing in fast, a ship not unlike Tejed's approached. Without hesitation it docked by the hybrid's. It's sleek black body was not that different from the metal of the frigate, and with a stealthiness only used by predators and followers, its two occupants entered the frigate as well.

The frigate was not silent in its bubble of space, even as its multiple intruders sought to reap nothing short of havoc unto its crew. It creaked, it groaned, and above all else, it wailed.

If anything the frigate was just as depressing on the inside as it was on the outside. It seemed to Tejed that Pirate ships had a really bad habit of appearing as derelict pieces of scrap metal, and the more she explored this particular vessel the more appropriate that seemed. They did little to no maintenance work on the things and they didn't even seem to care half the time. It was a wonder the things could even propel themselves forwards, let alone sustain a breathable atmosphere.

"I wonder how they even get anything done in this hell hole..."

Despite being naught but a whisper her voice echoed throughout the vessel, reverberating off the walls and quickly growing in volume. She flinched slightly at her careless mistake then continued walking. Everything seemed so loud as she walked, from the restless creaks of the frigate to the continuous and almost maddening sound of liquid, somewhere, gently dripping; Tejed was merely amazed the sound of her armoured feet and the thin whine of her mechanical legs didn't draw any pirates like flies to a carcass.

Gradually the ramshackle hallways of the ship gave way to badly lit but somewhat cleaner corridors, and those in turn slowly changed to brightly lit halls crowded by doors to each side. Something about the sterility of these particular corridors set off a series of memories, and before Tejed knew it she had unwillingly gone back in time.

_Consciousness was still far off, nothing but a pleasant memory in a cloudy world of black mist. Yet the world of the waking does not hold as many pleasures as initially thought, and as Tejed slipped from blissful unconsciousness into bitter reality the truth struck her like a brick. Two space pirates hovered above her. One had a gun like saw in his claw, the blade a neon streak of red. The other was gently probing a needle under the skin of her arm, a glowing blue substance traveling with frustrating slowness down the tube it was connected to. _

_They didn't realize that she was awake, that or they didn't care, for they talked to each other languidly, an indifferent tone in their harsh voices. The blue liquid reached her skin and burned like acid as it entered her system. Yet no matter how hard Tejed tried she could not scream, she could not move, and she could not cease the unending pain. _

_If this is what death is like, she thought, then wake me up. Please, somebody, wake me up. A tear squeezed out of her eye but the pirates did not notice. It was then that the walls caught her attention: bright, almost unbearable white against the chitinous black of the space pirates. It was almost like some bizarre hospital, only instead of chemicals and steel the air smelled of death and decay. _

Tejed came back to the present with a racing heart and fast paced breaths bordering on hyperventilation. It was all she could do to keep from retching right there, and a metallic taste kept creeping into her mouth. All too quickly the vague nausea subsided, and body still trembling Tejed entered the nearest room.

It was almost like walking into a memory. The white washed walls, though distinctly alien, gave off an unmistakable vibe of research and experimentation. The metallic taste crept back as she scanned the room, eyes coming to a rest on a computer terminal against the far wall. She fought down the sour flavour as she approached it. The room was strangely hushed as she accessed the computer's system, as though something was going to pop out at any moment and scream like some deranged animal. Tejed pushed the unnerving feeling to the back of her mind and continued to scour the contents of the machine, looking for any clue as to her history with the pirates.

"It's all garbled junk," she whispered, recognition dawning. The pirates had coded their system in such a way that any outsider reading it would get nothing but, well, garbled junk, and since Tejed didn't know diddly-squat about hacking into things she was at a loss. She stared at the flickering screen dully before turning back towards the doorway.

"Worthless. I better return to my ship, then. Contact, HQ, tell them th-"

A head splitting alarm started up, quickly cutting off all of Tejed's thoughts. She brought her hands to her head and glared up at the flashing red lights, the high noise painful on her sensitive ears. Her little jaunt into pirate systems must have activated the alarm, and no sooner had she thought that than she was alerted by the sound of heavy footfalls, the room soon filling with all manner of pirates. They more or less came out of the woodwork and Tejed had to wonder whether they waited in stasis just for alarms to go off. One of them saw her and motioned to the rest, his shattered voice filling the air with malice. Tejed swore under her breath.

"Of all the things that could've happened, of all the times."

She glared up at the ceiling, searching in vain for whatever higher being thought it would be funny to put her in this position, and shook her fist before turning her attention back to the pirates.

They seemed to recognize her, namely her suit, for they hung back a second before one of them broke the ranks and ran forward, and like a screaming gargling wave of death the pirates advanced, the old allegory 'strength in numbers' seeming ludicrously redundant. Tejed only had time to swear once before they engulfed her, and just as she was beginning to lose consciousness the old failsafe switched off, and she opened her eyes.

"You're all dead," she whispered.

Somehow, despite being in the middle of a pirate fueled brawl she was falling, slipping backwards into a part of her mind previously locked, a strange place where she could watch the chaos from afar and oddly not care. A new part of her mind resurfaced and took center stage. No longer was the timid and blunt Tejed at the wheel, now the Tejed who relished the thrill of the hunt of the smell of death was at the wheel, the Tejed who enjoyed mindless killing and mass murder, the Tejed with no emotions save hatred, loathing, and a deep, primal joy at watching things die.

"You're all _dead!_"

Her voice boomed out, a low bass roar that set everything that wasn't bolted down trembling. Somewhere across the room a phial shattered, and as one, the pirates looked up.

Raw power coursed through Tejed's muscles, a power that vied to be free, and in Tejed's new mindset nothing said free the power quite like bashing in a couple hundred pirate skulls. Without warning she lurched forward, a previously unknown chain saw springing to life on her right arm. It cut through the closest pirate like he wasn't even there, thick green blood spraying through the air and all over Tejed's visor. With an animalistic growl she ripped it free and looked around, her eyes seeing nothing but red. She cackled in a maniacal fit of glee and without a second thought plunged into the sea of pirates.

It wasn't just Tejed's mind that had changed, oh no, it was far more than that. Her physical body had changed as well, as if it knew this would happen and willingly transformed to accommodate its new operator. Her senses were greatly heightened, for she could hear every beat of their frantic hearts, smell the sickly sweat scent of perspiration, feel the subtle changes in air pressure as muffled shots flew by. Even her suit had changed, locking it into her mind that they made it for her and her only. The tubing that she had scratched her head over earlier flowed with bright blue phazon. And yet, as exhilarating as this new aspect was, there was something missing, something crucial to survival, and right off the bat Tejed knew what it was. Her sanity, discarded like some five cent trinket. She was angry, she was happy, and she was out of control. And even as the blood flew she did not care.

* * *

"You just had to set off that alarm, didn't you?"

Gin winced slightly at the robot's words. He had not meant to trip any alarm, it had happened when he tried accessing the ships computer systems and failed miserably. He hoped he hadn't jeopardized Tejed's cover in doing so, but even he felt she was toast. Behind him the robot gave an audible sigh, his polished camera eye reflecting what little light there was in this place.

"I really don't know why you insist on following him. Seriously, have you seen his suit? The guy knows what he's doing."

"It's only his fourth bounty. I want to make sure he doesn't kill himself."

Another sigh.

"I say we go home and forget this ever happened."

Gin turned to look at the robot, a look of exasperation upon his tanned face.

"And why is that, Hackbot?"

If the robot could have smiled sheepishly he would have. Instead he merely shrugged and replied in an indifferent tone.

"I'm a coward, you said so yourself. I'm allergic to violence."

Gin shook his head and continued down the hall. Somewhere deep down in the bowels of the ship came a muffled cry, then all was silent. Because of the intricate duct system on the frigate Gin couldn't make out its source; it seemed to come from all directions at once.

"You're too nice, that's your problem. I know a million other hunters who wouldn't give a rat's ass about some newbie and here we are, sneaking through a pirate frigate, trying to find someone who's probably not even here anymore." Hackbot shuddered slightly and glared at his current employer's back. "The only reason I don't leave is because you pay me so much. I swear, if there weren't so many credits invol-"

"Shut up." Hackbot abruptly ceased his babbling. He may have been a coward but he knew when to stop. Gin held his ear to a wall, a look of concentration on his face. He glanced at Hackbot, who merely gave him a look of puzzled boredom. After a moment Gin pulled his head away.

"What was it?" inquired Hackbot idly. He didn't really care, but he felt obliged to ask.

"I thought…" Gin trailed off. "I thought…I thought I heard something."

"Nothing here but space vermin and dust."

The lithe robot slid a finger across the wall and grimaced. "Do space pirates ever clean? Seriously, there's at least a foot of dust in here." Gin smirked at his exaggeration and peered down the hall. He could have sworn he heard something, but now the halls resonated dim silence. Whatever it was had sounded like deranged laughter intermingled with screams. Gin turned back to Hackbot, a hopeless look on his face.

"You're right, let's go back to the ship. He doesn't need ou-"

Without warning the wall Gin had been listening at mere seconds earlier seemingly exploded, a thick cloud of dust and debris filling the air.

"See? I told you this place was dusty."

Gin ignored the smart ass remark, all his attention focused on the cloud of dust, and the hulking figure that came through.

For all the world it resembled a space pirate, a hideous creation no doubt one of their ghoulish experiments, pumped up on phazon and with a temperament to match. Its shining yellow eyes burned like fire from deep set sockets, and even as the snap of a pirate spine radiated throughout the halls the eyes showed nothing but joy and hate. Hate and joy. A pure primal joy that can only come from deep animalistic hate.

"We have to get out of here!" yelled Hackbot, a hand clamped on Gin's shoulder. Gin came back to reality, and realized for the first time the amount of chaos the creature was causing. Dead pirate bodies lay all around and even as he watched another's head was crushed by the creature's hand. Without a second thought he and Hackbot rushed out of harm's way and watched the gory scene from around a wall.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea!" complained Hackbot. "That…that thing out there probably killed Tejed! Ripped his head right from his body like it's doing with those pirates."

For the moment Gin was inclined to agree. And yet the way it composed itself, the way it ripped through its own people with such obvious fury set it apart from a mere monster, a pirate experiment gone horrendously wrong. And suddenly Gin saw that oh so familiar suit, and piece by piece it started to come together.

"...Shit, I think that _is _Tejed."

She whirled around at the sound of his voice, spent pirate bodies littering the floor like some sort of grotesque confetti. Her breathing was low and ragged, like a predator when it smells its prey. Gin and Hackbot ducked back around the wall, but sight was a little issue for Tejed. Hackbot's steel and alloy body smelled thin and unnatural, with a hint of pungent oil, while Gin smelled of sweat and fear. She took a heavy step towards them, steel and concrete cracking slightly under her weight.

"This is bad," whispered Hackbot. "Very, very bad."

"State the obvious, why don't you."

Tejed whipped around the corner and before Gin could blink had him against the wall. Her claws dug sharply into his neck, drawing thin beads of blood in the process. They contrasted sharply with the dull green splattered all over her suit, and Gin couldn't help but gag at her blood splattered face. A thick gob of spittle fell from the corner of her frothy mouth.

"Come on, you know me! I'm-" She snapped at him like an angry dog and grinned sadistically. A high pitched shriek sputtered to life and in growing horror Gin realized her chain saw was slowly advancing towards his head. A shower of sparks flew in the corner of his eye, the teeth of the saw biting into the hard steel like nothing was even there.

"Calm down, Tejed. I'm here to help."

Tejed merely blinked once at the spoken name. The shriek of the saw ceased as the teeth came to a stop. Gin jumped on this chance.

"It's me, Gin. Gin Phoenix. Put me down, please."

Tejed's eyes dimmed and her expression softened, the fire going out, though the hard edge remained. She dropped Gin to the floor and turned away. Already the power was draining, her vision and senses returning to their previous states. She was in control once again, though for how long was anyone's guess. She felt eyes boring into her back and turned. Gin and Hackbot were staring at her, unsure of whether she would flip out again or not. If only everything was that simple.

"What are you staring at?" she spat.

"Nothing! I…"

"You what?" she growled. "You've never seen a repulsive hybrid of space pirate and human? Lucky you, because until I woke up months ago, neither had I."

She navigated through the sea of bodies, feet squishing against their fresh corpses. The air smelled of steel and death. She did not care, nor did she even really notice. Her helmet lay glinting back in that sterile room, and bending she picked it up. She scowled at her reflection in the visor before slipping the helmet back on. And amid all the chaos, strangely clean at the back of the room, the computer terminal lay untouched. Oh the irony. It was almost as if whatever greater power were laughing at her. She scowled.

"Need any help?"

Gin and Hackbot had followed her. Gin's voice, though thick with residual fear, still held its kind tones, and Tejed didn't know whether to hate it or be grateful for it. Without answering she walked towards the terminal.

"I can't access their systems, they have it coded and I'm not a hacker."

Hackbot perked up at her words.

"I can do it! For a price…"

Gin elbowed him in the side.

"Not now, just do it, already."

Grumbling about not getting paid enough the robot approached the terminal and started clacking away at the keyboard. A few seconds later he turned away triumphantly, the screen filling with legible pirate, only to be pushed roughly aside by Tejed. She stared at the words, mumbling under her breath. Gin peered over her shoulder but only saw gibberish.

"You can read that?"

"I'm more than half pirate, what do you expect?"

He seemed taken aback by her blunt remark but didn't complain. Tejed glared at him before turning back to the screen.

"It says they have some sort of huge experiment going down, something code named O.M.M.R." Gin perked up and came forward. "That's about it, though. The rest is miscellaneous scientific rambling."

She stepped back thoughtfully. Though she hadn't found what she came here for, namely, anything to do with her or human experimentation, what she did find was just as intriguing. Something with a code name like that, that was so vague even other pirates didn't know what it was, had to be big, dangerous, even. She had to alert the Federation.

Without saying anything she promptly strode from the room and headed back to her ship. Gin and Hackbot struggled to follow, though the robot made it clear by his constant whining he didn't want anything to do with this.

"Wait! Where are you going now?" Tejed stopped at her ship and looked back at Gin.

"Federation HQ." She made to get on but was stopped again. Annoyance fluttering on her mind she turned again.

"If you're going, at least let us follow?" Tejed gave a mental sigh and nodded once, boarding her ship before the other bounty hunter could stop her again.

The comforting darkness of her ship around once again, Tejed started the engine and lazily detached from the frigate. Beside her Gin's ship started as well, its sleek black shape so different from her clunky silver ship. And yet, even as she was swallowed in calming silence that usually sparked inane ramblings, she stayed quiet, mind heavy with questions and musings.

She had not just lost control, she had gone into a raging fury. She had gone berserk, and she didn't just like it. She had _loved _it.


	4. Chapter 4

_I think roses are red, _

_Violets might be blue, _

_When I escape this place, _

_I will paint these walls the hue, _

_Of space pirate blood, _

_Be it green or be it red, _

_Because I guarantee, _

_You will all be _dead.

* * *

Tejed absently clicked through her comm. device as she approached her ship, vaguely surprised by the amount of credits her actions had acquired for her. She was right in thinking the Federation would pay highly for her information. A few thousand more and she could finally get a new ship. The dented light gray hull of her once white ship, though still considerably strong for its diminutive size, could only hold off so many more attacks before it imploded in on itself, possibly in the middle of a heated space battle. Plus, she was growing tired of its lack of fire power. It was a research vessel, for god's sake, not a fighter. All the thing had for protection was a tiny little research drill. It was useless. It was also cramped and small and on more than one occasion Tejed had banged her head exiting and entering it.

Behind her Gin trailed warily and at a safe distance, and behind him the almost ominous form of Federation HQ loomed, blotting out a good portion of the sky from their low angle. It was alive with the constant buzz of mechanical contrivances, both man powered and self sustained, and the din of countless air craft somehow managed to reach Tejed's ears even at this distance. She had long since learned to blot out the annoying low bass hum of Earth, but even her heightened hearing was taxed at times.

She slowed to a stop in front of her ship and laid a hand on the door frame. A polite cough sounded from behind her. She didn't bother turning around.

"What the hell do you want?" Gin was momentarily taken aback by the blunt demand. He gaped for a few seconds like a stranded fish before finding his words.

"I… I want to help." Tejed was surprised, but behind her helmet the emotion did not show. Instead she merely turned and stared at him. Gin did not flinch under her steely stare, and for but a second Tejed felt respect for this man she barely knew.

"Help with what?" _There we go, he flinched, he doesn't like my voice. _Her respect dissolved into a muddy pool of contempt. For a second she had a vivid mental image of her tearing his head off. Shocked she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind.

"I want to help you...help yourself." That disarming smile had spread across Gin's face and Tejed fought back to urge to laugh.

"Oh _God_ that is so corny," she blurted without thinking, only to bite her tongue. "Oh, sorry, did I say that aloud? …Well it is."

She turned again to board her ship only to have Gin grab her by the shoulder. She whirled on him like a feral dog and before she knew what she was doing had him pinned to the ground.

"Don't touch me _ever again_ and _maybe_ you can come next time." Gin nodded quickly. With a satisfied grunt Tejed arose and boarded her ship. Gin stood shakily and dusted himself off as her ship arose and took off, visibly shaken but mentally sound. He accessed his own wrist comm. and was delighted to see the blip the represented Tejed speeding off, headed towards what looked to be the Triad Nebula.

"Hackbot, you crazy machine," he chuckled. "You've done it again."

* * *

"Who in the _hell_ does he think he is? To think he actually has the gall to touch me with those weenie little hands of his." Tejed shuddered involuntarily. Uncalled the vision of her decimating Gin's corpse came back, and instead of shoving it away this time she embraced it. She could almost taste the bitter sweet metallic undertones of blood on her tongue and for a second she was happy.

"No!" She shoved the imagery away again. "He's a halfway decent guy. Why am I getting these ideas? Where the hell are they coming from?" She was silent for a moment in the cramped confines of her ship. Where were those vaguely disturbing images coming from? Mayhap the pirates had done more to her than she had previously thought? Maybe they had not just broken her, but had also planted some subconscious urge to kill in the very back of her mind, making her the perfect weapon. She snarled and spat on the floor, not bothering to clean it up. That old hatred had resurfaced, the one that brought with it the taste of copper and the smell of steel decay.

"I swear when I find that blasted frigate every single god forsaken pirate on there-" She broke off, hands clenching and unclenching involuntarily. Something snapped and Tejed was dimly aware she had broken the handle to the thruster. She took a deep breath to steady her boiling emotions.

"May as well keep this hunk of junk going for a little while longer, no sense in breaking it myself." The ship's sensors began beeping and with a satisfied grunt Tejed peered ahead. Jet black against the brilliant backdrop of the Triad Nebula was her bounty: a tiny little pirate vessel of about two hundred individuals. Her eyes gleamed with repressed fury and she smiled.

"I will enjoy picking off every single last one of you off, one by one." She angled towards the ship at a sedate pace, knowing full well even if the pirates tried to escape she could always track them down again. It was like a game to her, in a way. A deadly game of chase where she was the hunter and they were her prey, and sooner or later they would fall to her. They always did.

Something black and fast zipped by Tejed, stirring her from her revenge induced reverie and throwing her off course. She quickly reoriented the ship and turned towards it, annoyance fluttering on her mind.

"What the bloody hell was…oh no…" The truth hit her like a bag of bricks and her face unconsciously twisted into a sadistic snarl. Without stopping to think things through she jammed a finger down onto the console, bringing up the viewscreen and a very apprehensive looking Gin.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing following me?" she roared, flinging spit at the screen in the process. Gin almost looked like a tree in a storm about to break, yet he did a good job of hiding the fear from his face. Instead he merely composed himself and looked straight into Tejed's bloodshot eyes.

"I want to help." Tejed merely facepalmed. He was a persistent one, wasn't he?

"Fine! Fine. You can help, so long as you _stay out of my god damned way._" She turned off the comm. before Gin could answer, filling the ship once again with comfortable darkness before finally heading towards the pirate vessel. Gin or not she was going to decimate these pirates one by one, and Gin or not, she was going to enjoy herself.

* * *

Gin could feel her glaring daggers into his back, even though she was hidden behind her helmet. He let out a shallow breath.

"So, uh…what's it like being…a space…pirate…" He facepalmed at his stupidity. Not only was it the wrong thing to say, it was the wrong thing to even think, let alone voice. The fact that they were currently in a space pirate vessel didn't much help matters, either. He glanced back at Tejed, a hopeful smile on his face. She merely growled at him.

They walked through the dingy halls of the pirate ship in awkward silence and for the third time since they arrived Gin wondered what possessed him to tag along. Far up the walls, tiny little cameras watched them, undoubtedly watched on the other end by alien eyes. The pirates knew they were there. The pirates were planning something.

"I'm sorry," blurted Gin suddenly. Tejed made no inclination of having heard. The only thing that told him she was still there were her heavy footfalls.

"I didn't mean to crash rudely into your life, I mean, you have things to do, too, that don't include me…" He chattered on incessantly, afraid that if he stopped talking he'd never say what he wanted to say. Not that his inane babble was any better, but it made him feel halfway decent about himself.

Tejed had tuned him out, more interested in the sounds of the ship. The creaking was speaking to her; telling her tales of space pirates and experiments, phazon and exotic mutagens. She vaguely recalled stories her father used to tell her as a child, of the enigmatic 'talkers': ships so unfathomably old they spoke ancient tales in their rusty voices. His stories had always sent her mind on fire with flights of fancy. She smiled.

Something clattered down the hall, sending baleful notes echoing down the dimly lit corridor. Tejed stopped and listened. Gin evidently did not hear it, for he continued to chatter on.

"Shut up."

The demand was blunt and to the point. Gin closed his mouth.

The sound came again, this time laced with the unmistakable undertones of heavy breathing, like a feral dog cornered and ready to attack. The taste of bitter steel arose in Tejed's mouth: space pirates. She let out a low animalistic growl and readied herself for the inevitable attack.

And yet the attack never came as expected. The creature rounded the corner and spotted them, deep set eyes eerily similar to Tejed's. It walked on misshapen legs strengthened by steel and heavy cables pumping a blue substance. Phazon. It looked straight a Tejed, and a single tear fell down its face. Gin straightened from his battle stance, confused, before glancing up at Tejed. The creature made a sound like gentle crying.

"What-"

Without warning a violent shock was sent through the beast, buckling its legs and sending it to the floor. It regained its balance and looked back at Tejed, its sorrowful eyes replaced with cold anger. And in one swift movement it lunged.

Gin's military training instantly took over. Gone was that smile that Tejed hated so much and gone was his idiotic attempts at conversation. In its place was a bounty hunter with years of experience under his belt.

He reached to his side and grabbed a stick which instantly elongated itself, revealing itself to be a staff covered from tip to tip in evenly spaced nodules. And as the curiously malevolent creature pounced, its rapier claws making deadly beelines for his exposed throat, Gin was all too ready.

Tejed stood back and watched intently. Gin held his staff in front with both hands, and as the creature finally met him it was only a quick twist of the instrument that deflected its blow. The creature went sprawling to the other side of the room before snarling and attacking again, this time going low. Gin merely wacked it over the head, hard. The nodules glowed briefly and an almost electric shock went through the beast. It shook its head and promptly lost its footing, falling to the floor in an undignified heap. And it was at that moment of weakness that Tejed saw it, bubbling underneath the ferocity almost playfully.

This creature was an experiment, just like her.

"Hey!" Her call caught Gin off guard, and he half stumbled before turning to her.

"What the hell?" was his only response. Tejed waved him off.

"Go explore the rest of the ship. I'll deal with this one myself." She cracked her knuckles for emphasis. Gin looked back at the slowly waking creature, then to her, worry on his face. Tejed scoffed at the emotion. Worry? She'd be fine. The creature on the other hand…

Gin still hadn't gone. Tejed growled.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" she yelled. "GET!" That did it. He took off down the hall with all the seeming of a dog with its tail between its legs. She watched him leave and muttered something about idiots before turning back to the experiment.

It was still in the process of regaining its feet. Apparently Gin's fancy stick did more damage then she previously thought. The thick tubes of phazon pumped harder, as if trying to coax the beast to its feet. They were connected to a sort of pack in the thing's back, some sort of machine buried in its flesh; a central phazon pump. Twin spires jutted from it, small wafts of steam drifting lazily from their surfaces: cooling towers.

The misshapen legs clunked heavily on the steel floor as it finally regained it composure. Its eyes stared balefully at Tejed, emotions too complex and alien for her to understand.

"You want some?" she inquired, twin laser scythes unsheathing themselves from the holster on her right arm. The creature merely growled, a sound she had made herself on more than one occasion, and stood its ground. The cooling towers glowed ominously in the dim half light of the pirate vessel. Underneath her helmet Tejed smiled, that same cold grin that always came unwarranted to her face when battle presented itself.

"Then come and get me."

* * *

Gin, meanwhile, was in his own crazy little battle. He had stumbled upon the Elite Pirate quite by accident and with little regard to safety. He had merely been browsing the halls, looking for something, anything, to give him a lead on the enigmatic O.M.M.R. The computer room with the huge sign in bright red pirate writing seemed like a good idea at the time. Now he had come to regret it.

He clearly remembered snaking his way into the room without detection. No problem there. He also remembered stalking up to the terminal and trying his hand at hacking it. No problem there, either. Wait, was that his misguided attempts that started that blasted alarm ringing? …Yes. Yes they were.

"Where's a Hackbot when you need one," he muttered, barely missing a single handed blow by the massive Elite. The alarm continued its incessant whine, drilling its way right into Gin's head. The Elite's great footfalls seemed to come in time with the fluctuating tone of the alarm, like some sort of strange music. Gin was dancing to it. An incredibly haphazard dance that only just kept him out of harm's way, sure, but a dance it was. Which was all fine and dandy, except Gin hated dancing.

The Elite leaned back and in one swift movement its gargantuan fist collided with the ground, sending out a dull tremor and a minor shockwave. Gin faltered and fell. The Elite smiled and advanced on him slowly, seeming to relish in his languish.

"You want me?" he questioned, hand going to his side for his staff. There was a familiar mechanical whirring as it extended and he stood.

"Come and get me."

* * *

Tejed didn't waste any time fighting the experiment. Using her patented technique of brute force, she had systematically ripped off the creature's cooling towers, followed by a few disconnected cables and a broken arm. Its blood oozed from its wounds a dull reddish green. Tejed shuddered at the sight of it; it looked so much like hers.

With that same sound of gentle crying the beast shuddered and fell. Tejed approached it and looked into its sunken eyes. The cold pirate infused fury was gone and she was looking into the eyes of a fellow victim. She held the scythes to the creature's neck and with a quick jerk finished it off. The dismembered head rolled across the floor, eyes finally at peace.

"You're free now," she muttered absently, mind preoccupied with other things. Where had that blasted Gin wandered off to? She strained to hear, listening intently to the old ship. A dull alarm was ringing far off. No doubt Gin's handiwork. She sighed in frustration and headed off towards it. She wanted to come here alone and now she was stuck babysitting.

"I told his ugly face that I wanted to be alone but does he listen?"

The apparent solitude had brought on her inane rambling again. It was almost as if the tap were turned off, allowing every single minute thought she had to manifest as spoken word. The line between thought and speech was very thin indeed with Tejed.

"I hope he got it through his thick skull and went running back to the Federation with his tail between his legs. God help me if he smiles at me one more time, I swear I'll-" She cut off before the dully festering anger raised its ugly head and let her breath out noisily. A dead pirate lay propped up against the wall. She didn't stop to wonder why it was there and instead crushed its skull underfoot. She smiled, feeling better, and continued towards the incessant alarm.

Slowly the gyrating wail of the alarm grew in volume until she found herself at a rather large door, bright red pirate writing plastered all over it.

"Main science lab, restricted access, high ranking personnel only," she read. Without a second thought she barged right in, the thick door crumpling around the edges as she forced it open. It resisted for a whole three seconds before finally giving in.

"That'll teach you getting in my way," she snarled, as if the door should've felt ashamed for its resistance.

The unmistakable guttural cry of a space pirate filled the air, and as Tejed peered into the room she was greeted with the strange sight of exactly one tiny little Gin Phoenix trying to stay alive at the claws of exactly one hulking huge, most likely unnamed Elite pirate. She smirked and hid behind a console to watch.

"May as well enjoy the show, Tejed," she muttered, more than sure the bounty hunter would end up a smear on the wall. Her smirk quickly turned to a scowl when she realized she was the one who had to clean him up.

They looked so awkward contrasted against each other, it was almost funny in some morbid sort of way. Yet the way Gin seemingly flew, danced through the air with his knobbly stick whacking away at the Elite, Tejed was slightly impressed. Only slightly. He'd still end up that glorified smear.

A resounding crack echoed throughout the room. Tejed winced at the abrupt noise. The Elite swayed slightly before falling hard, its skull fractured and leaking dark green. Gin stood panting before minimizing his staff and tucking it away. He noticed Tejed watching from the door and waved at her, almost shyly. She blanched at the thought.

"Quite a battle, eh?" His voice was optimistic. Tejed hated that. She merely barged past him and approached the main console. A few quick taps brought up much needed classified information, and a few more had it stored in Tejed's database. She turned back to Gin.

"It was alright." With that she barged past again and left the room. Gin smiled and followed.

* * *

"I know everything there is to know about space ships. Trust me, I've been a bounty hunter for years. Heck, I even built my ship myself. Granted, I used bits and pieces from other ships, but it is one hundred percent mine, one hundred percent Gin. If you ever need to know anything about ships, ask me."

Gin was chattering again. He always did in her presence. Strangely, though, Tejed didn't care. It melded comfortably into the background and became simple noise. She was loathe to admit it, but his constant blabber was almost soothing. Heck, she wasn't angry, so that amounted to something, right?

She glanced over the rows of space ships, emotions hidden behind a tinted black visor. Not that her emotions would show much, anyway. So much time spent in space pirate confinement had whittled her facial expressions down to exactly two: blank brick stare, and angry blank brick stare. Right now she was using her patented blank brick stare.

"I like that one." Gin peered in the direction of her finger, eyes settling on a clunky ship bristling with barely concealed weapons. Tejed's expression had changed to a strange mixture of manic glee and contented joy; her expression repository grew by one.

"You want that one? Seriously?" Gin didn't even bother hiding the surprise from his voice. Tejed didn't say anything and started towards it. Gin sighed and followed, Hackbot skipping along playfully.

He came to a stop by Tejed in front of the ship. It was even bigger and clunkier up close. It was the exact opposite of his ship, wherein nice smooth curves were replaced with jaunty right angles and sharp points. It was as though no thought was put into appearance and the ship was one hundred percent purpose. Tejed tested the small stairs and climbed in. She didn't bang her head in the process. She smiled.

"Do you even have enough for this?" Tejed responded by fetching her comm. device and holding it in front of Gin. He counted the number of digits: seven. Tejed was loaded.

Meanwhile Hackbot was having a little too much fun poking at guns.

"Hackbot! Get away from there!" snapped Gin irritably. The last thing they needed right now was a broken ship, and knowing how easy it was for Hackbot to break something…Gin merely groaned. The robot flinched and stalked around to Tejed, who was still admiring the fact that her head did not hurt when she boarded the ship.

"Howdy ho there!" he announced happily. Tejed ignored him. Hackbot saw his chance and struck.

"Watcha doin'?" No response. Hackbot sidled up beside her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"How 'bout now? Huh? Huh?" Tejed resisted the urge to bite his face off and instead merely growled. Hackbot didn't get the hint.

"Huh? Huh? Are you gonna tell me now?" Tejed whirled around and grabbed him by the neck. She glared at him with her angry blank brick stare.

"What the hell's your problem?" she rasped. "You were actually tolerable when I met you, why this?"

Hackbot was silent for a full five seconds.

"I like cake, but cake's been extinct for _centuries_." Tejed was caught off guard by his reply and let him go. He skipped back to the other side of the ship and proceeded to play with the guns again. Tejed threw a confused look over to Gin, who had been watching the whole ordeal.

"He's insane," he said matter-of-factly. "Why he was so…not insane the first time you met him is beyond me. Goes through shifts, he does." Hackbot giggled like a madman before turning his attention to another gun, only to repeat the process. Tejed sighed, a sound she suspected was to become all too common, before finally entering the ship and sitting in the main chair.

A dull purple light instantly started up, followed by a monotone computerized voice.

"Welcome to your new ship. I'm your computer. What's my name?"

Tejed opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off rudely by Hackbot.

"Let's call 'im Jarvis!"

"Jarvis. Voice recognition confirmed…Sup, guys. I'm Jarvis." Tejed shot a death glare at Hackbot.

"I wanted to call him Fluffy!" Gin peered in, astonishment adorning his features. "…destroyer of worlds!" Gin nodded as though this made all the sense in the world and left. The computer let out an audible sigh.

"You were going to call me Fluffy?" His voice was dull and dreary.

"Destroyer of worlds," Tejed retorted. Jarvis did not seem impressed. The purple glow dimmed somewhat. A tiny little camera surveyed Tejed.

"Aren't you a sight. What, you walked straight out of the zoo? What's with the bloody suit?" Tejed glowered at the camera.

"I wanted a new ship, not another obnoxious pest in my life."

"Ooh, a comeback. Wake me when you think of a better one." Tejed was speechless for about a millisecond before launching into a steaming diatribe, chalk full of curses and vile epithets, Jarvis countering every one with a sarcastic remark in his emotionless voice.

Outside Gin merely sighed.

"It's going to be interesting, eh, Hackbot?"

Hackbot shrugged and continued toying with the guns.

* * *

"Report on Project TranFuse?"

"Single handedly took out one of the more advanced experiments. Requesting permission to advance to stage two." There was a drawn out silence. The sound of claws clicking in steel came steadily from the darkness.

"Permission granted. Send O.M.M.R. Either TansFuse lives with us or dies with them."

The pirate grunt bowed before leaving the room. Somewhere in the bowels of the ship came the distinct grinding of machinery, followed by a sonorous wail and a massive door opening. The ship shuddered once. A jet black ship whipped away from the ship and made a beeline for a single dot shimmering in the distance: Earth.

"Sir?" The clicking of claws on steel stopped for a moment before starting up again. Silence. The pirate grunt waited a moment before continuing.

"…Sir, what about the Hunter?" The clicking ceased.

"…What about the Hunter?"

"Is TransFuse…I mean…is it enough, to stop her?"

Thoughtful silence.

"If TransFuse defeats O.M.M.R., it is enough, more than, and we have to retrieve the experiment ourselves. If not, and it's brought back here, we still have work to do, but we have a chance." A yellow eye peered at the grunt. "..right?"

The grunt nodded feverishly, unsure exactly what his superior was getting at.

"You're dismissed." The grunt bowed before scampering off again. The room was once again silent, the view of space through the window no doubt phenomenal. The jet black shape had long since disappeared into the inky blackness.

The clicking started again.


	5. Chapter 5

_Journal Entry 32281 : Day 73_

_They took me away for tests again today. Treatments with their vile blue contagion. It burned like fire as they pumped it into my veins and I vaguely remember screaming in pain before losing consciousness. They just watched and took notes. God, how I hate them. I hate their weasly insectoid faces and their burning eyes, I hate their chitinous armour and their awkward double jointed gait. I want to peel back their armour slowly, so they can feel my pain. I want to break their legs so they have three joints instead of two and watch them squirm in agony. _

…_Writing is getting harder. There's no mirrors here, no reflective surfaces, so I don't know what they're doing to me. I can feel it, though. I can see it in my slowly mutating hands. Try writing with claws, it ain't easy. And always they walk by and stare at me with those bastard eyes, always staring. I'll enjoy plucking those eyes from their sockets when I finally escape. _

_Escape…_

_I tried to escape a while back. As they were taking me in for my "Treatments", I took one look at that open door and bolted. They had no idea what was happening but they invariably caught me. They punished me for my disobedience. No food for a week. At least I think it was a week. Time is hard to judge in this place. It sort of melds together into one continuous time frame. _

…

_Well will you look at that. I'm crying. I didn't know I could anymore. I better stop, I'm getting tears all over my paper. _

…

…_I wonder if my eyes burn like theirs?

* * *

_

"Dooo sooomething about him." Tejed's whispered voice echoed harshly around her new ship. She had finally gotten over her pride and was actually asking for outside help. Jarvis' personality could've been described as grating at best, and it was starting to rub Tejed the wrong way. The tiny camera in the corner swivelled to watch her.

"Are you talking about me again?" She winced at the obnoxious voice and turned to glare at that bastard camera, wondering once again what had compelled her to buy this ship in the first place. She quickly glanced out the window. Guns. Oh yeah, firepower.

"Hey, hey. What are you, deaf? It's like talking to a brick, a brick with a thick skull and a surly attitude. You hear me? Hey, circus freak!"

Tejed's right eye twitched in barely concealed frustration and for the sixth time that day she seriously considered reaching up and tearing that camera straight from its cozy little corner, wires and all. She'd have to do a number on the main console as well, to dispel that grating voice once and for all, but it was a risk she was willing to take. Unless the mouthy computer also controlled the guns. In that case she was screwed.

"Hey, listen! Listen to me! LISTEN!"

"Yes, Jarvis, I hear you! Goddamnit would you shut up for five seconds and give me some time to think?"

And Jarvis was silent…for exactly five seconds, before he started up that obnoxious banter again at double the force. Tejed's eye twitch intensified accordingly. Gin watched all this from the main command screen, unsure if he should feel sad for Tejed or Jarvis before speaking up.

"You want I should get Hackbot to…'work' on him?"

"Yes. Please. Thank you," growled Tejed through clenched teeth.

She simply couldn't take it anymore. If Jarvis kept up his incessant banter, chock full as it was with all manner of insults and derogatory terms, she'd probably do to him what she did to that group of pirates back there. As hard as it was, the mouthy computer was ever so slowly pushing her back to that brink of insanity. She thought only the pirates were capable of that.

Evidently Gin somehow understood this, for in a flash he told her he was coming over, Hackbot and all. The screen faded to black and for the first time in a long time Tejed smiled. Despite herself she was growing to like Gin. He came off as obnoxious and too happy, but he was apparently useful. And for some reason he didn't make her angry anymore. Well, _less _angry.

"What are you so happy about?"

Tejed's smile faded as fast as it had appeared.

"I swear, Jarvis, if you keep this up I'll simultaneously smash that dinky little camera into the wall and rip out your speakers, with my teeth." Her voice was laden with malice. The camera's iris contracted as it watched her, silent for a moment.

"You wouldn't dare."

Tejed's eyes flashed like fire and that smile returned, though instead of joy it radiated sadistic notes of cruelty. She briefly wondered how good Gin was with machines.

"Is that a challenge…?"

* * *

Gin was at a loss for words. The first sight he was greeted to as he boarded Tejed's ship was smoke. Lots of it. Followed closely by a devastated central control system and a camera that had been seemingly smashed into the wall. He looked to Tejed for answers but she merely stared straight ahead, helmet masking any emotion. Not that any would show through anyway. After a few seconds he somehow mustered up the courage to ask.

"What…what the hell happened?" She turned to look at him and for a moment Gin regretted asking.

"I shut him up." Blunt as always. Gin merely stared at the devastation, knowing full well it was now up to him to fix it. Good thing he was good with machines.

"May I ask…how?"

"I'm insane, Gin. You've seen it firsthand. Take a wild guess and use your imagination."

He had a brief mental image of Tejed wailing on the console, sparks flying everywhere. It seemed fitting.

Quickly he wiped the image from his mind and approached the smoking console. He sighed. The console wasn't just broken, it was devastated. And devastated wasn't even a strong enough word. For lack of a better term, it looked like an angry Tejed had come through.

The hybrid in question didn't seem to care. She stood leaning against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her, radiating an aura of cold indifference. Her attitude now seemed so far off from the raging beast he had encountered earlier, but Gin supposed it was just part of who she was. Or what she had become.

"Well then! It'll take some time but I can get this working again! Good thing you picked me, Tejed, 'cause I know my way 'round machines!" He was chattering. Again. Tejed watched him hurry about the console, Hackbot close behind, talking all the way as he started the studious task of fixing it. It suddenly struck Tejed that his distinct Australian accent, though initially annoying, was charming, in its own special way. It soothed her frazzled nerves and left her feeling content. Somewhat.

"Hey." Her broken voice shattered her own sanctity and for a moment she hated it. Gin stopped talking and looked up from the console. It took her a second to find her mangled voice again.

"How…how long will it take?"

"The console? A few hours at the most. Reprogramming your computer on the other hand, about twenty minutes."

He smiled at her again, but strangely she didn't care. That disarming smile that once had brought unbidden visions of her killing him to mind now brought nothing, and with a satisfied nod Tejed pulled up a chair to watch.

* * *

"Are you ready, Tejed?"

Gin had an arm around Tejed's shoulder. She may have liked his company but that was going a bit too far. She growled at him. He seemed not to hear. She resorted to her raspy voice instead.

"Take it off or I swear I'll break it, in three different places."

Without hesitation the arm was off and Gin was a good five feet away. Tejed smirked under her helmet, glad for a second this horrible gift the pirates decided to give her. It only lasted a second. She was angry again. At what? Heck, not even she knew. Ever since she escaped two months ago she was constantly angry. Not upset, per se, nor was she bothered by anything in particular. Just vaguely angry. She snarled and mentally blamed the pirates.

Gin had approached the main console with Hackbot, his hand resting on the main power switch. He smiled at her. Her anger lifted by a degree.

"Well? Are you re-"

"-Yes, I'm ready. Shut up and throw the damn switch."

The words came out harsher than she had initially intended, weighted by unwanted thoughts, many of which included her killing pirates. Gin didn't seem fazed by her anger; either he was incredibly trusting or incredibly stupid; and promptly pulled the switch with enthusiasm. Beside him Hackbot clapped happily. It made Tejed sick.

The dim purple light that signaled the waking of the ship's computer once again glowed to life, followed by a familiar voice.

"Sup, guys. I'm Jarvis."

He sounded sad and depressed. Tejed liked it instantly. She turned towards the camera in the corner and sneered.

"How are you this fine day, Jarvis?"

The camera swivelled to watch her and let out an audible sigh.

"I've been better. Now would you mind not talking to me? I'd much rather power down again until I'm actually needed, which will probably be never."

Tejed let out a loud laugh and clapped Gin on the shoulder, impressed and pleased. He stumbled from the heavy impact but quickly regained his balance. And indeed Tejed was very pleased. No longer did she have to put up with that obnoxious voice laden to overflowing with biting sarcasm. Now she could pilot her ship in the peace and quiet she had so grown to love, with nothing but her own broken voice to keep her company.

Gin was merely happy that she was happy. And that she wasn't killing things.

"You did good, you crazy Aussie," she remarked offhandedly, mind already set on different things. Like pirates and the many ways to kill them. Something whispered at the back of her mind, a soft lilting voice, but she ignored it.

"Crazy Aussie?"

Gin sounded hurt. Tejed didn't really care all too much about his feelings. He was useful, that was about it. She turned to look at him. God damnit if he didn't _look_ hurt, too. Her top lip unconsciously curled into a thin snarl as she surveyed him, unsure what to say. Already her good mood was dissolving into that familiar mire of hate and anger. Why couldn't she feel happy for longer than a few minutes? Quickly she went with her instincts and said the first thing that had come to mind.

"I was just fooling with you. Now get off my ship."

The demand was so abrupt Gin was momentarily confused. He merely stared at her, unsure what he should do. Hackbot was still standing patiently by the fixed console, entertaining himself mentally who knows what. Tejed's patience was wearing thin. The little voice at the back of her head thought now was a good time to speak up again but angrily she pushed it away. Gin was still standing there dumbly, thoroughly confused by her sudden change in demeanour.

"I said get. Now go."

Gin suddenly got the hint and hastily exited the ship, remembering all too vividly Tejed's little penchant for violence, leaving her alone with Hackbot. He still hadn't moved. She turned to him, annoyed.

"What the hell are you still doing here? Get."

Hackbot looked at her and said nothing. Her eyes narrowed in fury.

"That's the way you want to play it. Eh?"

Outside Gin hadn't even gotten twenty feet from the ship before Hackbot literally came sailing out the door and into a wall. There was sharp crack as he hit and Gin winced at it. The robot was fine, though, and merely beamed up at his master.

"That was fuuuun!"

Gin facepalmed and turned towards the ship. Tejed stood in the doorway glaring at them both, her emotions all too readable even though they were stifled under her suit. Gin simply couldn't understand her mindset. He decided it had something to do with either phazon or her inherent insanity. No, it was probably a nice mixture of both. Insanity _brought on_ by phazon. He had hit the nail on the head. That still didn't mean he understood it.

"Jeeze, Tejed!" he yelled. "Do you have to almost kill my friend?"

She was silent for a moment, no doubt calculating her conflicting thoughts.

"You have horrible friends!"

And at that she slammed the door to her ship, effectively cutting her off from the rest of the world. She leaned heavily against the door and sighed, just as perplexed as Gin was with her sudden shift in thoughts. The voice was still talking at the back of her mind and with a jolt she realized it had only started up _after_ she had gone berserk in the pirate vessel.

"Is my insanity starting to catch up?" she wondered aloud. She removed her helmet and held a hand to her head. The voice was still chattering just barely at the edge of her hearing. It was kind of like a wind chime, soft and insisting yet whenever she actually tried to listen she couldn't make out what it was saying and just heard noise.

She shook her head but the voice was still there, soft as ever. Tejed growled instead before realizing that trying to scare off an imaginary voice was absurd. With her hand still held to her head she slowly began to make her way through the ship.

"I can hear you, but what are you saying? What are you trying to tell me?"

She meandered into her bedroom, and through to the small bathroom off to the side. The thick steel of the sink groaned slightly under her weight as she leaned heavily on it and looked up into the mirror. It never failed. She looked at herself and the first thought she had was fleeting panic, as though she wasn't looking into a mirror but through a window, at something completely foreign.

"I escaped what, three months ago and I'm still shocked when I see myself?" she sneered in distaste. Her reflection sneered back. "I'm such a pansy."

She briefly fingered the jagged scars that ran over her right eye, patchy memory at this point in time eluding her as to its source. The scar that cut right across her eye started at her forehead and ran straight down to her chin, slicing her lips in the process, while the scar farthest to her cheek was missing a chunk of flesh, as though she had suffered some great trauma but couldn't remember quite what it was. Apparently it was still healing, too, judging by the way the knobbled flesh grew over in ropy strands and the off coloured skin marred with splotches of purple and red. Either way, whatever had caused them, it had probably hurt. A lot.

A thin line of drool ran down her chin before collecting into a tiny gob and dropping into the sink. She really had to work on that. Her double jointed pirate jaw was not good at holding her saliva. As if to accentuate that thought she opened her bottom jaw and gave it a good stretch. One of the joints cracked loudly before she gently folded it back in, her mouth once again taking on the semblance of something almost human.

"My god I'm disgusting," Tejed muttered absently. She turned from the mirror and sighed. The voice had receded to a quiet whisper. She briefly thought of just going to sleep already until tomorrow.

…_out…_

"Wha…?"

Tejed looked around the small room but couldn't find a source for the noise.

…_me…_

It seemed to come from behind her and curiously Tejed turned back to the mirror. There was nothing there save her reflection, staring sombrely at her with bloodshot yellow eyes.

…_please…_

She leaned in close, studying her face. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Even the whispered voice appeared content to be quiet for once. She still looked hideous and the room was still empty. And she was still alone.

Her reflection blinked without external stimulus. She recoiled, surprised and a tiny bit frightened. Cautiously she leaned forwards again, her reflection following suit.

"Who are you?" she asked, feeling slightly stupid. She _was_ talking to her reflection.

"_Please... Please let me out…" _

"…What do you want from me?"

"_I just want to be free again…" _

Her reflection darkened, seemed to take on a more gloomy tone. It stared at her ominously from the mirror, its eyes glowing balefully back from the inky depths of its face. Tejed shuddered involuntarily and straightened.

"Uh…no. You can just stay there."

It seemed sad at this and the expression darkened even more.

"_Please... Let me be free… Let me out..." _

"I'll pass."

Gone was the sorrow and in its place rage. Evidently reflections didn't like being put down.

"_LET ME OUT!" _

It lunged out of the mirror and grabbed Tejed around the throat, its razor claws digging deep furrows in her flesh. Dark green blood with a tinge of red started to leak from the wound, the drops sizzling as they hit the floor. Tejed gasped for breath.

"_I don't _like _being caged. I want to be free again. I want to revel in the delight of battle, the ecstasy of death, and I want to take pleasure from _every. Single. Second of it!"

It was no longer a reflection but a monstrosity, a hideous amalgam of pirate and human like her but more grotesque than she had ever been. Its eyes no longer glowed but burnt, as though on fire. Scratch that, they literally _were_ on fire. The tips of the flames licked the ceiling and scorched Tejed's face. She screwed her eyes shut in fear and willed the horrible apparition to disappear. It merely laughed at her attempt.

"_I'm not so easily dispelled, _Miss Jenal. _Just give me what I want… and I'll go away." _

Tejed opened her eyes and looked at the pirate.

"What the hell do you want?"

It grinned at her and she shuddered, suddenly full of fear for she finally recognized this evil beast. It was her, back on the space pirate vessel, when she had lost all resolve and given in to her insanity. She didn't even have to listen, she knew exactly what it was going to say. It spoke anyway.

"_Death." _

Something pounded on the ship's main door and quick as a flash the apparition was gone. There was only Tejed, by herself in the bathroom. She looked at the mirror and jumped slightly before realizing it was only her. Her teeth ground together in a sudden rage and in a spurt of anger she punched the mirror. It shattered around her feet with a gentle jangling of glass on steel. She let out her breath and felt her neck. No wounds.

"Tejed! Open up!"

A muffled voice reverberated through the ship. It sounded like Gin. He must have left something in the command room before Tejed had shooed him out.

"I'm…alone."

Nothing answered save Gin's banging. She glanced down at the shards of broken mirror. One of the pieces faced reflective side up and she caught a glimpse of her reflection smiling at her. She quickly stomped on it before hastily running out of the room.

"Damnit, Tejed! Will you open up already! I know you're in there!"

Abruptly the door swung open. Tejed stared at him blankly, her helmet elsewhere. As usual Gin was taken off guard by her mannerisms.

"Tejed…" he started slowly, unsure how she'd react. "I left my tool kit in there. Could I please…?"

She stared at him a minute longer before seemingly breaking out of a trance. She looked around for a moment, confused.

"Yeah…yeah, sure."

Her broken voice was softer than usual, bereft of its usual scalding tones. He looked at her strangely as he boarded her ship again. She seemed somehow off, as though something had happened in there to leave even her scared. He quickly located the tool kit and made his way back to the front of the ship. Tejed was still there, looking for all the world like a lost puppy.

Gin stopped briefly as he exited the ship and looked at her. She was staring blankly at the wall but wasn't really _looking _at it, as though she were a million miles away.

"Tejed."

She looked up. Her eyes seemed so far away.

"…what's wrong?"

She stared at him. Nothing. He tried again.

"What…what are you scared of…?"

She opened her mouth as if to answer but simply closed it again and turned away. The door closed with a heavy clank, and Gin was alone again. The tiny voice had started speaking again but try as she might Tejed could not force it away. It chattered incessantly at the back of her mind, except its once ethereal calls were now crystal clear and she heard every single word it said. Four words repeated over and over again in a deceptively pleading tone.

_...please...let me out..._

Despite herself Tejed was frightened, terrified. She leaned against the door and slid down until she was sitting, and buried her face in her hands. For the first time in over a year she started crying. The voice kept right on talking, seemingly oblivious to her torment, and for a moment Tejed was angry. Where did this obnoxious voice get off chattering as if it was the only thing that existed? Did it want to drive her even more insane than she already was? If that was the case then it was succeeding.

She grabbed her too long ears and pulled them in a fit of rage. Maybe if she tore them right off the voice would subside at last.

"Oh god, please be quiet," she whimpered.

It paid her no heed. Suddenly her mood once again shifted and she was violently angry. Letting go of her ears she got up again and starting venting on the wall with her fists, leaving a slowly growing dent in the thick steel. There was no purpose to her actions save drowning out the voice.

"I told you to _shut the fuck up_!"

She repeated it over in over in time to the punches until all her energy had been expended and the wall was so deformed that any more punishment would invariably break it. Hot tears had come to her eyes again and she collapsed. The voice had gone but her fear hadn't. She put her face in her hands again only to have them come back wet, and with a dull ache in her stomach realized they had a faint tint of subtle blue, almost as if they were charged in some way. Like phazon.

With a sigh Tejed leaned her head back, exhausted from her little bout of insanity, and closed her eyes. Now was a good a time as any to simply go to sleep, and forget for the time being how truly sick she was. Good idea. She let the sleep take her and drifted into blessed unconsciousness, unaware the voice had started again, soft and lilting as always.

…_please…_

…_please let me out…

* * *

_

Two weeks had passed since Tejed's wonderful little discovery, two weeks wherein she had systematically broken every reflective surface on her ship, save the important things like windows or computer screens. Needless to say Jarvis was not pleased, and he did the only thing he knew how: whine. He whined about the mirrors, he whined about the now scuffed but once shiny bulkheads, and above all else he whined simply about the act of whining. What a hypocrite.

It should have been grating in Tejed's nerves but she was too preoccupied with other things to acknowledge his misery. Like the Galactic Federation, for one. Pirate reports had dwindled in the past few weeks, leaving her blood lust to be sated on smaller quarry like petty thieves and criminals. She would have been fine, if not for the Federation law against killing. Criminals were to be brought, alive, to the Federation to be incarcerated. Keyword _alive_. Tejed had come to the sickening understanding that she needed to kill things in order to quell that obnoxious voice and keep her from spiralling ever closer to insanity. It had been a horrible realization, but she had to live with it. At least it explained why she was so violent lately.

It didn't really help that today was abnormally slow. Tejed had mulled around in her ship all day, jittery and frustrated from the lack of action. She had already fooled with the guns, tinkered with her suit, fixed the dent in the wall, and done a myriad other things in the space of a few hours that day, leaving the rest of it wide open for whatever she pleased. And that was the problem. She wanted to kill things, namely pirates, but there were none to be reported, and she couldn't go on a massacre on Earth.

She thought a few times of going to Earth, just to walk around and remember what it was like to be human, only to instantly scrap the idea as foolish and dangerous. In her current state she was all too likely to enter what she had deemed Berserker, the personification of her insanity that she had entered on the frigate, and go into a mindless killing spree, a sad fact she had grown to accept, though only grudgingly.

As of now she had to be content stuck on her ship with a depressed computer to keep her company. She hated it. And the worst thing was the big fancy command chair she had loved was growing uncomfortable and annoying. And her shoulder itched. Madly.

"Damn this shoulder!"

She tried to scratch it but couldn't get her clawed fingers underneath the shoulder guard. Briefly she wondered why the pirates had decided it would be a good idea to make a suit that more or less melded itself to its owner. Last night she had managed to remove most of the suit, but the shoulder guards, the knee guards, and a few select pieces along her legs and arms were simply too stubborn to come off.

Snarling Tejed got a good hold on the guard and gave a yank. Her shoulder spasmed in pain, the trio of bolts doing all too well a job holding it in place, and her teeth ground together. Slowly the pain subsided and she let out a breath.

"Damnit!"

Spittle flew from her mouth and she glared at the shoulder guard. It had started bleeding again, oozing the phazon infused liquid that somehow passed as her blood. She scowled at it, hating the way it fizzled and slowly started to eat through the thick steel of the guard. She wasn't full of blood, she was full of poison.

Anger flared briefly in her mind before settling into a smouldering swamp of disdain. Her emotions were such a roller coaster is wasn't even funny. Earlier that day Tejed had been happy, only to have it dissolve into anger then into intense sorrow. She had wandered around the ship on the verge of tears before suddenly becoming confused and disoriented. Jarvis, of course, had been no help at all, and merely commented sadly how she had looked happier than him.

"It's all your fault, voice. I blame you for these mood swings."

The voice merely responded with the usual pleading. She ignored it before wondering how long the disdain would keep up before randomly switching to something equally as annoying. For a moment she wondered what Gin was up to.

As if he somehow heard her thoughts the main viewscreen flickered to life. Tejed found herself staring at who else, but Gin. And he looked just as sickeningly happy as always.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I was wondering if-"

"-You should come to Earth with us!"

Hackbot had pushed himself to the front of the viewscreen, almost knocking the bounty hunter from his chair on the process. Tejed seriously considered killing him. It would sate her blood lust, at least for a little while.

Gin managed to push the obnoxious robot away and turned back to Tejed. For someone who was seemingly assaulted daily by Hackbot he seemed none the worse for wear. He didn't even seem the slightest bit annoyed. If Tejed were in his position Hackbot would've ceased to exist a long time ago. She wondered how he managed to put up with him.

"So…yes. Want to come to Earth? It'll get you out of your ship, at least for a while."

He flashed her that damnable smile. The disdain was still there and she hated it, both the smile and the emotion. Still, being on Earth would be nice. And she wouldn't be alone so she'd be less likely to lose it. At least that's what she was hoping.

She thought about it, staring at Gin while she muddled around her thoughts. He didn't seem the least bit unnerved by her deadpan stare, and Tejed couldn't for the life of her figure our why. Even she was on occasion creeped out by her own expressions. Maybe Gin was just really good at hiding his secret revulsion. That's it, thought Tejed. He despises me and just wants me to feel like a person. He _pities_ me. Tejed hated pity.

Or maybe it was just her diseased thoughts speaking again and he really did mean well. Either way. She was more inclined to believe the pity, but maybe that was because the only human interaction she normally got involved nothing but pity or fear. Despite herself Tejed enjoyed the fear.

She pondered a moment longer.

"Yeah, okay."

The effect was instantaneous. If happiness could visibly increase it certainly did with Gin. He gave her perhaps his most optimistic smile yet. It still made her sick.

"It's a plan, then! I'll be there in a few hours. Other side of the galaxy, you know."

And with that he was gone. Tejed sighed and diverted her attention out one of the windows, inadvertently catching her reflection in the process. She jumped slightly, not used to seeing herself without her suit. Was she really that lanky, that misleadingly thin? She looked past it and into the blackness of space. A single star shone brighter than the rest: Earth. Something red and bright zipped past, rocking the ship slightly. No doubt an asteroid or some such space borne debris. Suddenly she wasn't as thrilled as she had been mere minutes ago.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

"_You're digging a deep hole, Ms. Jenal. We should kill him before we get in too deep." _

"What? No!" she exclaimed. The voice had come suddenly and caught her off guard. And the fact that it had discovered that the English language was comprised of a lot more than just 'please let me out' was quite jarring, too.

"He's useful. I'd rather keep him around, just in case."

"_But he hates you, hates us. Think of how much fun it would be to tear his spine out slowly. To relish in his pain." _

"…I'm seriously trying not to."

"_And then Earth, full to brimming with prey. The wonderful havoc we can wreak, if only you would let me out." _

"I'm ignoring you now, bye."

She abruptly turned from the window and stared at the blank viewscreen. That pushy voice was exactly why she didn't want to go to Earth. If it kept up its banter she'd probably lose it anyway, Gin or not. And the worst part was she actually agreed with the voice, if only in part. Gin's spine _would _look nice on the wall there…

A violent shake of the head and the images were gone. Her gaze went back to the suit.

"May as well get it back on, before Gin gets here."

The disdain had finally gone from her system, leaving her strangely neutral. With a sigh she got up and slowly began putting the suit back on. She wasn't going to Earth without a visor to hide behind.

* * *

Samus came to a stop. She was on another 'talker', the fifth one this week. What was it about pirate frigates that rendered them loud and obnoxious? Briefly she wondered what was so special about pirate vessels before promptly accessing the computer terminal she had come all this way for.

Its yellowed screen stared balefully at her as her visor translated the pirate glyphs. Somewhere came the clank of old steel and an abrupt hiss of steam, followed by a deep wail of rust and age. Samus inadvertently shivered. She hated talkers.

Something beeped softly; the terminal; and quickly Samus began to read.

_Log 1566-73_

_TransFuse is coming along quite well, despite earlier shortcomings. Its strength is increasing rapidly, along with all its senses, namely smell and hearing. Mental stability, on the other hand, is proving to be quite the hurdle. It is always frightened. Recently it managed a few of our spoken language, only to say such blasphemies as 'stop', or 'please let me go'. Another lot of phazon is expected in shortly, at which time TransFuse will receive another batch infusion. Hopefully this will increase its rage and more or less cut out its fear and confusion. We will never be rid of the Hunter if TransFuse is not at its best. _

Samus mulled over this new information for a few seconds. The codename of TransFuse sounded vaguely familiar, was ringing tiny little bells at the back of her mind, but she couldn't for the life of herself pinpoint why. Something wailed and she quickly started reading again.

_Log 1566-77 _

_We've done it. All our phazon resources have been used up but TransFuse is at long last mentally capable. Its insanity is beautiful and it feels nothing but simmering rage. At this point in time this unfathomable rage is directed at us, but a few more modifications and the Hunter will be its one and only target. All we have to do now is ready the suit and the filthy Hunter can finally say goodbye, for good. The others, though filthy and the exact opposite of us, will be proud. I just wonder what possessed High Command to conspire with them; we may have success, but I fear this will end with nothing but treason and bloodshed. _

Samus suddenly stiffened as the realization dawned. Tejed and Project TransFuse were one and the same. Samus must have rescued the hybrid before the pirates could continue with their 'modifications', for she seemed to bond with Samus as though with any rescuer. Still, with this new information, Tejed was dangerous for a new reason, and not one that involved massive phazon overdose.

Quickly Samus scanned the stored logs for anymore mention of Tejed and modifications, but found nothing. Something had caught her eye, though, and she went back. It was interesting enough to get her reading.

_Log 2354-89 _

_The second pair of wings is working beautifully, allowing the creature to fly even under the heaviest of atmospheres, and its respiratory system is nearly nonexistent, allowing it to exist even in the deepest reaches of the void. There has been… a setback, though. Because of the lack of respiration it requires a near constant influx of, well, phazon to keep it going. Like batteries. This has resulted in a rather large set of exhaust vents upon the creature's dorsal regions, to dispel the unneeded phazon and simultaneously bring in enough pressure to keep it circulating. Unfortunately High command wants it out of here all too soon, and until it comes back we cannot fix this problem. If the vents are destroyed or blocked, and OMMR becomes unable to fight, don't come crying back to us for help. _

Samus frowned. OMMR? What was that, some new and no doubt grotesque experiment of theirs? And where exactly did they want to send it?

_Log 2354-99 _

_High Command released it, even after we had stated multiple times how it _was not ready. _I think they sent it to the Sol system, to retrieve TransFuse, but I can't be sure. They never tell Science Team anything. All I know is that when it comes limping back with broken cooling towers, it won't be our fault. _

That was more than enough for Samus, and after quickly filing away the few reports into her suit's memory she took off back down the hall she had come from and to her ship. The frigate wailed in protest as she left but she paid it no heed. Shit was going down on Earth and the hybrid she released all that time ago was going to be the center of it all.

* * *

"The Federation headquarters is an old building, older than even me. It's been looming there long before any of us even existed, acting as a sort of landmark for all those who come to Earth. I know for a fact it was the first thing you saw when you arrived here, so it must be doing its job well. I just don't understand why it has to look so ominous…"

"You talk a lot, you know that?"

Gin looked up suddenly. It was the first time Tejed had spoken since planet fall, which had been a full hour earlier.

"…bad habit."

Tejed smirked behind her visor. Nor a smirk of indignation, more a playful sort of smirk, as though despite herself she was enjoying this. Earth was quite nice, especially when she wasn't alone and had someone to talk to. Or, in her case, someone to blather on blithely to her.

The city was a busy place, which was one of the reasons Tejed preferred not to come here. There were so many people, aliens, and robots everywhere that she had been momentarily overwhelmed by all the sensations. It was incredibly loud, strange smells drifted on warm breezes, and everything was so colourful and bright it almost hurt. She had had to manually turn up her helmet's soundproofing, up her visor's tinting and close the vents on the front to keep herself from going mad with sensory overload. And the worst thing was that it happened every single time she came here, be it for another bounty or simply to get off her ship.

Gin had noticed her fiddling with her helmet, and only after inquiring was treated with a curt 'Too loud, too bright, smells too strong', at which point Tejed had said nothing more for over an hour.

It's not that she was ignoring him, as Gin suspected, but because she was lost in her own little world. To say she hadn't walked around an Earth city just for the sake of walking around in an Earth city in a long time was an understatement. Tejed had been locked in that cell on the frigate for over a year and had more or less lost everything it meant to be human. She was just enjoying the warmth of the sun and the general benevolence of the atmosphere. Even the voice couldn't bother her now. Not to say it wasn't trying.

_We could cause the most beautiful chaos, Ms. Jenal. Look at all the weaklings here, just begging for their death at our hands. Let me out, please..._

"Shutup," growled Tejed absently.

"Wha?"

Gin had caught her faint growl. By the looks of his face he seemed to think it was directed at him. Tejed merely sighed.

"Nothing."

He gave her a confused look and promptly started talking again. Tejed promptly tuned his chatter out to background noise and smiled contentedly, before almost tripping and falling flat on her face. Instantly she had regained her footing and whirled to face her would-be attacker, face contorting into its usual scornful grimace. A bright red ball stared back at her. She straightened in confusion, the hate giving way to bewilderment.

"Hey, mister!"

Scanning the crowds Tejed caught sight of a fenced in playground, no doubt belonging to a nearby school, a group of human and alien children staring at her with big eyes. She looked down to the ball then back at them.

"…can we have our ball back? Please?"

Gin was watching from the side, seemingly content to watch the scene unfold. With his arms crossed and that smile on his face Tejed considered punching him, but thought better of it and instead stooped down to retrieve the ball. It was made of some thick material with a bit of give and felt like some weird gummy candy in her gauntleted hands. Evidently the voice saw the children as the perfect targets and used this chance to make its opinions heard.

"_Children, eh? A perfect start to our massacre. Think of them as…appetizers…"_

"You again? Be quiet, already," she mumbled, quietly so that Gin wouldn't hear. Quickly she threw the ball back over the fence, the kids scrambling happily to catch it as it bounced across the enclosed park. One of them looked back up and waved before running back to his friends.

"_You know what they say, Ms. Jenal. The weaker of the species is always the easiest to catch, and tear limb from limb from limb…" _

Tejed had to stop herself from envisioning the horror she could, if she so chose, start. Instead she turned back to Gin, that same smile still on his face. Despite herself Tejed hated it again. She blamed the voice for ruining a perfectly good mood.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" she snapped irritably. The bounty hunter merely kept up his charade of good will.

"Nothing," he replied jovially. "I just knew there was _some _humanity left in that battered old space pirate heart of yours."

Abruptly Tejed approached him and leaned in close, her hot breath leaking out the vents in the front of her helmet despite the fact they were closed tight. Gin's features furrowed as the breath hit him square in the face.

"Listen here, Aussie. I don't _have_ a heart. I should know; I've spent too much time just sitting and listening to my chest, trying to decipher the sounds in there. And you know what I hear? The mechanical pumping of some filthy little machine the pirates decided to give me for some reason I don't quite understand yet. So don't even _give _me the whole 'still human' speech. I lost my humanity _years ago._"

Gin didn't say anything, confused as he was with Tejed's sudden shift in emotion. He wasn't even sure if Tejed was telling the truth about her heart or merely making shit up in order to scare him. Something made him more apt to the latter: she was just scaring him.

He let out a sound kind of like a mouse's squeek, prompting Tejed to straighten back up and continue walking down the street without him, a stream of curses, both in English and Space Pirate, now flowing steadily from her mouth. So much for a relaxing day on Earth. What more could go wrong, sour her mood even more?

It never failed. As soon as those thoughts had crossed Tejed's mind, something had come screaming through the sky like a fiery missile and crashed into the nearest building, sending up a deadly cloud of dust and debris. Tejed squared her stance in order to keep from being blown over by the shockwave and held her arms in front of her face. Beside her Gin did more or less the same, and it only struck Tejed after the dust had cleared that what she had done was redundant; with her suit she had no need to protect her face or keep her stance, she was already heavy as hell _and_ wearing a helmet.

Screams and wails echoed from the ruined building, a chilling sound that tingled up Tejed's spine. Somewhere off in the distance sirens had already begun to howl. The building was quiet despite the chaos that had just been wrought.

"Hey, Gin," she whispered, as though anything louder would bring on an apocalypse.

"What?" He was equally hushed. He didn't even look at her as he spoke, his eyes plastered to the now ruined building, apparently still registering what they had seen.

"…what the fuck was that?"

"…I have no idea."

The ground shuddered and a low wail escaped the building, something so utterly alien that both Gin and Tejed winced at the same time. And that's when it revealed itself, stepped out of the ruins on thick claws of steel and legs fortified with imbedded machinery. It looked for all the world like some sort of draconic mechanical zombie, and the way its flesh hung from its mechanical limbs in places made Tejed wonder how it managed to walk.

It looked around with a vicious toothed head and amid the screaming crowds somehow managed to catch sight of Tejed. A tiny little camera on the side of its misshapen head contracted as it regarded her, no doubt running scores of calculations through its mind. Sparks of energy danced over the thick geletin covering of its nucleoid brain.

"Gin, I'm scared."

Quickly he glanced over at her, unsure if he had heard her right. The great Tejed, afraid?

"Why?"

"I have a horrible feeling we have to fight this thing."

Of course. Tejed actually being afraid was about as rare as Tejed happy…towards Hackbot. He looked back at the twenty foot monstrosity, its mechanical and biological eyes still trained intently on them.

"Yeah, Tejed. I reckon you're right."

Silently Gin unsheathed his katana and stood his ground. Beside him Tejed did the same, the twin lazer scythes holstered in her right arm extending with a silent swoosh. The monstrosity swayed slightly from side to side before suddenly leaping at them, its fangs bared and dripping poisonous saliva.

Tejed faltered even as Gin dodged away, only realizing at the last second that it was either move or die. The monstrosity's immense claw clipped her shoulder as it landed and threw her off balance. The resulting shockwave cracked the concrete and threw her off balance again. Tejed finally found her feet and straightened, pissed.

Amid the relentless screaming of the crowds a deep bass groan sounded. The creature seemed more interested in Gin at this point and Tejed looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. One of the buildings overlooking that fenced in playground was ever so slowly tilting sideways from the shockwave. Tejed's stomach fell. The kids were still in there.

"Fuck me," she muttered bitterly. A quick glance back assured her that the dragon was all too busy playing with Gin and his sword, and without hesitation Tejed made a dash for the schoolyard. Suddenly the low groan escalated to a sharp crack and the building lurched downwards. The ground shuddered as it fell, lodging itself neatly between the schoolhouse and another building, and right above the yard. The kids were huddled at the far corner of the yard, terrified.

"Come on!"

The kids shied even farther away from Tejed's broken voice and she swore angrily. The fallen building shifted slightly, sending down a rain of dust and debris. It could fall in a few short seconds, or in a few hours. Tejed didn't want to take any chances and slowly made her way to the children, lowering herself so as not to appear threatening.

"Come on, you have to get out of here. The building-" She pointed upwards. "Could fall at any moment."

They just stared at her, unmoving. Tejed glanced back again. Good, Gin was still keeping that hideous monstrosity busy. And he was damn good at it. Tejed made a mental note to ask him for some tips. Later.

The building shifted again and without warning, sending a loud crack through the yard. Suddenly a huge pillar of concrete was falling towards the small group. Tejed instantly straightened and whipped forwards, catching the giant chunk before it rendered them mere smears on the pavement. The children looked up at her with wide eyes as she held the massive piece, muscles spasming from the strain.

"What are you little bastards waiting for? Get the fuck out of here! …GET!"

They finally got the hint and took off like rockets, disappearing into the still swarming crowds. With a pained grunt she let the piece fall and walked slowly back out to the fight. Just as she exited the shadow of the building there was a loud shriek of steel on concrete and it finally fell, throwing up a huge cloud of dust in the process.

"That was a little _too _close," she muttered, not wanting to think about what would have happened if the children had decided to dally for a mere second longer. And then there was Gin. He seemed to be doing…something, to the beast. He was slashing at its exposed tendons before quickly dashing away only to dash in again. Tejed wasn't quite sure if he was actually doing anything, but the way the dragon stumbled slightly as it went after him made her wonder.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Decimating a horde of pirates was a world away from fighting a mechanical dragon that towered twenty feet above you. Wherein Tejed could easily mow down pirates, she had a sinking feeling she could do absolutely nothing to this monstrosity. She had no ranged weapons, nothing more than a pair of lazer scythes and her own claws, and her ship was too far away to be of any use.

Gin seemed to be holding his ground but the dragon was slowly backing him into a wall, and the bounty hunter didn't seem to notice. The dragon's skeletal tail swished from side to side, cracked through the air like a whip, and its odd mix of mechanical and organic wings flared as if in anger. A pair of cooling towers nestled into its back gently puffed light blue smoke.

"_If you let me out, we can destroy it, together. All you have to do is give in and forget who you are…" _

"NO!"

Tejed was simply loathe to enter that state of mind again. If it meant giving up even more of her humanity then she would have none of it. It didn't help that it was possibly the only thing that could help her right about now.

"I don't _want_ to go into a flying rage."

"_You have to if you want even the slightest chance at victory…" _

Tejed was determined to ignore the voice, and anything that would undermine her perception of her humanity. If relishing in torment was what the pirates wanted of her, then to give in would be to be a pirate, and Tejed was dead certain that she was not a pirate.

Gin had finally realized that he had been backed into a wall, and at last Tejed jumped to action. Just as the dragon had cornered Gin, fanged face inching in for the kill, Tejed grabbed it by the tail and gave a good yank. The dragon faltered and looked up, spying the hybrid in the process. It gave a low hiss. The smoke from its cooling towers stopped then started up again.

"Gin! Get out of there!"

He didn't have to be told twice. Hastily he made a run for it. The dragon merely glared at Tejed and wrenched its tail right back. The force of the pull was too strong and Tejed lost her grip. The tail's inertia kept it flying right around the beast, and straight into the Gin that was _trying _to get to safety.

"GIN!"

A loud crack resounded through the air and Tejed winced at the noise. Gin was thrown back from the force of the blow, pieces of his suit fracturing and falling away in the process. And it wasn't just the blow, oh no. His trajectory had somehow managed to lead him straight into a broken piece of brick wall. He hit with another loud crack and gasped in pain before losing consciousness.

Tejed felt something shift in the back of her mind, her face contorting in intense anger. Now that Gin was out of the way there was nothing stopping her from finally listening to the voice.

"Break out the refreshments, voice. I think it's high time I let you out."

The voice said nothing and in response the failsafe clicked off. Angry Tejed was gone, insane Tejed was at the controls now. And, needless to say, she wasn't very happy.

She felt the old fire light up in her eyes, the same fire that drove countless pirates before she had killed them, and glowered at the beast, a thin smile playing on her lips. Her twin scythes were replaced with the high pitched whine of the chainsaw.

"You picked the wrong illegal experiment to fuck with."

Without warning she grabbed the thing's tail again and gave an even stronger yank, pulling it right down to the ground and dislocating some of its joints in the process. It let out a surprised shriek as it lost its balance and fell. One of its legs, positioned awkwardly under its body as it fell, cracked loudly as the bone snapped in half. Quick as a flash and without even stopping to think Tejed ran up its spine, through the cooling towers, and up to its head, where she proceeded to stab it over and over again in its nucleoid brain. Thick bluish blood gushed out and covered her. She merely smiled behind her visor, enjoying this immensely.

The monstrosity somehow managed to find its remaining three legs and stood again. Tejed merely ripped the camera out of its head, a thick rope of cables and wires coming out along with it. The dragon screamed again and shook its head violently. She merely dug her claws into its skin and held on. She wasn't going anywhere.

"_It hurt Gin, it threatened the sanctity of this city, it wants to kill us; it wants to kill you. And the space pirates sent it here. Its evil, it deserves pain and torment, it deserves death." _

Tejed agreed avidly, latching on to every word the voice fed her. Yet something was wrong. For all the blood it had lost, it still seemed more than intact, more than willing to keep going. Heck, deep down it seemed to Tejed that the dragon saw her as a mere annoyance, and despite her attack she wasn't doing any damage to the creature.

"_I'm…not doing anything. This is futile." _

"_Nothing is futile. We can destroy it with sheer force." _

"_But Gin is hurt. If I can't hurt it then I should stop, find a different means of attack. Get Gin to safety." _

"_I'm at the controls now, not you. This is why you'll never succeed alone, Ms. Jenal. You're weak. You rely on filthy human concepts of friendship and community. They render you useless in battle. Ignore the other hunter, he was expendable anyhow." _

Tejed tried to wrest back control but her insanity was too strong, and she could only watch in horror as she continued what she had deemed useless, unable to do anything to stop herself. And ever so slowly Gin was in more and more danger as the dragon stumbled closer and closer to his still form.

"This is fucking pointless!" When Tejed finally managed to speak she was taken aback by her voice. It was low and sultry, brimming with barely concealed insanity and with a curious rasp that was never there before. The sound of her voice merely fuelled her anger even more.

"I can't do this, Gin needs help!"

"_I told you, he's nothing but a nuisance. Ignore him; he'll most likely die anyway." _

"NO!"

Tejed's muscles clenched as she tried to stop, tried to pull her arm back and turn off the tap, click the failsafe back into place. All her actions were for nought. Her insanity, manifesting itself in that frustratingly calm voice, merely doubled back with triple the force, and she could do nothing.

"_If Gin dies it'll be all my fault," _she thought sullenly.

"_Yes. Yes it will." _

And despite herself she started laughing, thoroughly enjoying herself and filled with the most joy she had since, well, ever.

Bright orange zipped through the sky, followed closely after by the sound of the vacuum it had inadvertently created collapsing. The small gunship came to a rest near Gin and the cockpit door opened. Samus peered intently out, arm cannon already at the ready. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the dragon, an old and oft used word coming all too easily to her mouth.

"Ridley."

She said it with disdain, wondering why the space dragon wasn't dead already. The pirates really seemed to enjoy bringing him back time after time after time, especially when he was rendered as no more than a pile of body parts or a smear of blood. Samus gave a shallow sigh and aimed her cannon; it looked like Ridley was about to die, again.

A low groan came from somewhere to her right. Faltering, Samus quickly peered down. A bounty hunter she had seen a few times, both with Tejed and by himself, lay propped up against a low wall, his suit shattered in places and exposing his bare flesh. He seemed to be hurt, judging by the way he clutched his right said in pain, and was drifting in and out of consciousness.

Samus said nothing and returned her attention to Ridley, noticing for the first time the Tejed that was clinging tenaciously to his head. The dragon gave his head a wicked shake but Tejed managed to stay on. Samus had been wondering how the hybrid managed to fare with all the phazon that had been pumped into her system. Apparently it had messed with her sanity big time, and this was the result. Samus had a sinking feeling that even though the hybrid wanted to, she simply could not stop.

Suddenly the dragon whipped its head around, followed by his body then his tail, exposing his back side and the cooling towers. Samus' heart skipped a beat and without hesitation she aimed and fired. The missiles exploded against the massive vents, chipping off bits of steel and machinery. Ridley cried out in pain and rage, head whipping back around and catching sight of Samus. His one remaining eye narrowed in realization.

"Hello, old _friend_."

Samus fired again. One of the cooling towers cracked right in half from the resulting explosion and toppled to the ground with a resounding crash. The other, though still intact, ceased its belching of blue smoke. The dragon shuddered, its internal temperature slowly starting to rise without the towers to regulate it. Roaring in frustration and rage he gave his head one last violent shake, dislodging the hybrid and sending her crashing to the ground.

Desperate to get out of there and in increasing pain, Ridley spread his double wings and took off into the atmosphere. He glittered like a shooting star before disappearing from sight. Samus lowered her cannon.

Tejed on the other hand was still in Berserker mode, still trying to wrest control back from that damnable voice. And she wasn't quite sure if she was winning or not. Muttering obscenities to herself in a strange mix of Space Pirate and English she fell to her knees and grabbed her helmet, tearing it right off. Despite the instant sensory overload; the loudness, brightness, and most of all the smells of everything around her; the cold air felt so good against her fevered skin that it calmed her somewhat. But only somewhat.

"_We're not done yet, Ms. Jenal. There's still so much we can do. The dragon may be gone but there's always the city's own inhabitants…" _

"God damnit I told you to shut the fuck up!"

She shuddered and punched the concrete, teeth grinding together as the voice pushed itself to the front again. The fire of her eyes sputtered but continued to burn. Thick gobbets of spittle flung themselves from her mouth as she snapped at the air like a feral beast, mind fluctuating rapidly between thoughts of death and Gin.

She knew this had been a bad idea. The simple thought of it had sent shivers down her spine. But Gin laying there unconscious had sent her into a flying rage and she couldn't quite figure out why. She blamed him for this. If he never had gotten hurt she wouldn't be here trying to retain her sanity. Then again if she hadn't tried to pull the dragon away then Gin wouldn't be hurt in the first place.

Gin. Tejed looked up from the fractured ground, vision tainted red from her insanity. Gin was still where she had last seen him, propped up against the wall and out of it. But someone else was there, someone with a distinctive orange suit and a ship to match. Tejed's heart skipped a beat and she gasped. Samus.

Carefully the Hunter lifted the injured Gin and headed for his ship. Her gunship, though more than apt for space battles, didn't have the necessary medical equipment that Gin needed right about now. Samus looked back at Tejed once before walking off.

Tejed swore convulsively and regained her stance, finally pushing the voice to the back of her mind where it belonged. Her eyes sputtered once before dying down, returning to their normal yellow, and she was no longer violently angry. Instead she was sad, ashamed of what she had done, and after retrieving her helmet and once again hiding behind the jet black safety of its visor followed Samus at a distance.

Tejed didn't like Gin. She found his excessively cheery nature obnoxious and disconcerting. So then why was she so keen on his continued existence?

Why, of all times, did she actually care?


	6. Chapter 6

Begin Entry:

So it is etched in stone, so it shall be. Brought to us in visions of glittering poison and rusted armour, the Hatchling, little one that we have loved and accepted as our own, will not be enough. The dark ones have grown restless, intent on taking over what was never theirs to begin with. They have created something new, something to set the ball of fate rolling. It is misguided and sick, its actions clouded by its own hate. It is a warrior of a once noble people, now scarred by their actions and forever hating all who did this. But there is another, one who may set the Scarred Warrior's path right again. He is exiled from his people but living among them in secrecy. His heart is noble and he sees what is right. Together, both the Scarred Warrior and the Exiled Leader may be enough to stop the gathering storm, the rending of the very fabric of reality itself. We only hope our Newborn will be there in time to see them through to the end, and set everything right once again.

End Chozo Lore

* * *

_The sky was a sickly yellowish gray colour, like it had come down with some sort of horrible disease. No, it was the Earth that was diseased, the sky was merely reflecting it. A horrible war was being waged, one where the death count had been lost a long time ago and whatever sides there had been had been blurred all too hell. _

_It was a slaughter-fest, not a war. Hulking mechs battled it out with, well, whoever wasn't a mech. Civilians, innocents, and the criminals all merged together under one name: the Enemy. It didn't matter that more than half of them weren't the enemy, and that more than half of them had no idea what was happening. If it moved, it was prey, and if it was prey, it was the Enemy, and if it was the Enemy, it needed to be killed. No questions asked. _

_Gin saw the world through a blood red cross shaped visor, a pair of equally red eyes reflected back at him. The dizzying array of information projected onto his HUD would have scared off even the most confident pilot. Instead to Gin it offered a sort of respite from the outside world, a second home, if you will. The controls and information was as normal to him as a bee to a flower. _

_The only problem here was the anger. He was angry, furious, bloodthirsty. A line of red splattered across his visor but he neither saw it nor cared. This was single minded intensity at its finest, the by-product of untold years of training. The battlefield was rife with the metallic stench of death and the grand chorus of deranged screams, both his and his victims. _

_Another spurt of blood, this time dark blue. It came through the visor as a sort of off purple.. Gin wiped it away and continued with the bloodshed, unknowing and uncaring of who or what he had just killed. _

_Suddenly the field was silent. The fighting still continued as though nothing had happened but there was simply no sound. There was, however, no more than five feet in front of him, a little girl. She was seemingly untouched by the combat, her blonde hair swaying in the sick breeze of war. _

_Gritting his teeth and suddenly unable to control himself he charged at the girl, determined to show her her fair share of the fighting. His eyes had blazed up to a crimson fury as the rage took hold and all too soon she was dead, impaled on the end of his katana. _

_But she wasn't as dead as he would have liked. Blood seeping from the corner of her mouth she looked up at him, her odd coloured eyes, one bright blue the other vivid green, staring right through him. _

"_You are the Alpha, you are the Omega," she whispered, the only sound in the curious vacuum that had been created. "You were made for us, and like a phoenix you'll always come right back for more." _

_She dropped a pair of bloodied dogtags at his feet. Gin was no longer angry, but horribly, horribly sad._

_And he could do nothing to stop the fighting. _

Gin woke with a start, body trembling and covered in a cold sweat. The thin material of his clothes clung clammily to his skin and for a moment Gin was wildly confused, the nightmare was still vivid in his mind. He had no idea where he was, what was happening, or what had happened to land him here, and visions of the blood soaked battlefield still pervaded just behind his vision. The thick bandage over his left side and the fact that it hurt to breathe were the only indications of what had happened. That and the beeping machines tied into his chest.

He quickly sat up only to gasp in pain and fall into the bed again. His side didn't just hurt, it _hurt, _and by the telltale way his chest rose and fell in an irregular rhythm led him to believe his ribs had been broken. It slowly began to come back. Some hideous creation, no doubt sent by the space pirates for some obscure reason. A massive spike studded tail colliding with his chest, followed closely by Tejed screaming his name.

That was so unlike her. Did she actually care what happened to him? Care if he was alive or not? Gin didn't really believe it for a second. Tejed was irrational and mean at the best of times, prone to violent mood swings and acts of insanity. In all her different moods, though, he never once saw anything to tell him she actually cared about anyone other than herself. And over the course of, what, about three months since he had met her? He had seen a _lot _of her moods.

Taking a deep breath he sat up again, this time slowly. His ribs ached but did not protest. Without warning a shape came out of nowhere and abruptly pushed him back into the bed. Intense anger flared in his mind.

"Don't move. Your ribs are broken."

"But I need to get out of here," Gin muttered, eyes flashing feverishly around the room. He felt anxious and vaguely angry.

"No."

Something was wrong. Gin wasn't supposed to feel like this, like he could snap at any moment. It was a dangerous mindset and unfortunately he knew exactly what had brought it on. And he hated it.

"Where's Hackbot?"

One of the machines started beeping loudly, a shrill buzz that scratched against his mind like fingernails on a chalkboard. Gin's teeth gritted together in pain and he briefly contemplated punching it, destroying it in an effort to destroy the annoying sound.

"Where's who?"

The voice came somewhere from his right and was distinctly female. For a split second Gin thought it was Tejed, before remembering that she would never have been this calm. That and she sounded like a broken cassette tape. A badly recorded broken cassette tape. Carefully he craned his neck around to see the owner of the voice but merely brought on another spasm of pain. He promptly went back to his original position.

"The robot, who's usually in here. He needs to help."

"You mean the crazy one? I locked the door. He seemed dangerous."

"Damnit! Get him in here!"

To accentuate his point Gin finally gave in and smashed his fist into the incessantly beeping machine, at long last silencing it. His hand came back bloody and chock full of glass, but he didn't care. At that moment the owner of the voice came into his vision, revealing itself to be the only person he had ever looked up to: Samus Aran. Gin should've been ecstatic; instead he was angry and agitated.

She looked at his most likely now broken hand, unsure what was going through his head. Gin took a few deep breaths to steady himself and looked Samus in the eye.

"Please, get Hackbot in here. He knows things, he can help me."

Samus made no inclination to move, eliciting a new onrush of anger from Gin. His normally ice blue eyes flashed a bright crimson and, ignoring the pain from his side, he managed to sit up and more or less scream at her.

"NOW!"

She got the hint and unlocked the door, right as the pain became unbearable and Gin flopped down again, cursing loudly as he did so. Hackbot rushed in, in one of his rare sane moods, a thin syringe held carefully, almost reverently in his hands, as though he was terrified it would shatter at the slightest disturbance. Samus watched him curiously as a thin alarm blared on the side of his head, unsure exactly what had brought about his sudden change in personality.

"I'm sorry, Gin! I would've come right away but the Hunter here locked the door and-"

"-Damnit, Hackbot! Quit your blabbering and just do it already before I snap!"

The hunter's bright eyes had faded to a sort of dark simmering red and briefly reminded Samus of Tejed and her seething hatred. He even acted the part, too, what with his constant snapping at the robot. Whatever had caused his sudden change in temperament seemed to be the cause of his eye colour, as well. And whatever it was had Samus more or less intrigued.

"Damnit, Hackbot!" he yelled again. The robot had tried to get him to sit up, only to aggravate his broken ribs. Samus winced and walked over to him, leaving her outpost by the door.

"Here, let me help," she said gently. Gin calmed visibly and lowered the arm he was about ready to slap Hackbot with, eyes dimming back down to that simmering red. Calmly, Samus slipped an arm around his waist, the other on his shoulder, and helped him into a sitting position. He gritted his teeth in pain but didn't complain, his face slowly taking on the same shade as his eyes.

"Thank you," he muttered quietly, ashamed of his outburst.

Samus didn't pursue the matter, much to his joy, but what she _did _do was just as embarrassing. She took up her spot by the door again and stood there, watching him, arms crossed languidly across her chest. His anger had since faded, leaving him merely agitated. The Hackbot fussing over him with the syringe didn't help his agitation all that much though, and all too quickly it elevated back to anger.

"Push your head forwards," instructed Hackbot. Somehow he had managed to position himself behind Gin in such a way that it seemed ludicrous. Samus wasn't even sure how he had managed, or how he was going to get out of there. Gin merely grumbled something unintelligible, not caring about the robot's awkward positioning, and pushed his head forward until it was lolling against his chest. Hackbot poked his fingers around the base of his skull before finding something and readying the syringe. Samus craned her head to see.

"It's going to hurt…" warned the robot.

"I know, god damnit," snapped Gin irritably. "We've only been over this same procedure a million god forsaken times. _I think I know how much it hurts._"

Hackbot seemed unfazed by his master's vehemence and quickly stuck Gin with the needle, the inch long tip going deep into his spine. Gin stiffened in pain but said nothing. Samus noted his high pain tolerance, impressed that a normal human could withstand so much. Promptly Hackbot withdrew the needle and somehow managed to hop off the bed, allowing Gin to flop back down and take a deep breath, eyes closing as he embraced the pain.

"And now I bid you adieu," the robot said graciously to Samus before scampering off, his alarm fading down the hallways into silence. Samus watched the empty doorway, a strange smirk on her face. Gin sure did have the weirdest friends. She turned back to him and approached the side of his bed.

"Are you alright?"

He slowly opened his eyes, their colour having returned to their usual icy blue.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "But…now my hand hurts."

"Well that's what you get for punching a monitor," she said amiably, a light smile on her face. Gin merely blushed slightly and closed his eyes again. Now that he was feeling better he simply could not look Samus in the eye without feeling uncomfortable. She was _only_ the greatest bounty hunter this side of the Milky Way. He felt as if he was unworthy to be in her presence.

"How about your other hand?"

Gin's eyes snapped open again and he tried to sit up.

"What about my other-oh…" At that point he realized he was garbed in a simple hospital robe, no arms to the thing and no back. He promptly facepalmed with both hands.

"It took me a while to realize it wasn't part of your suit. How'd you get it?"

"Long story," he mumbled through his hands before pulling them away and inspecting the right one. The steel fingers were scuffed and dented but more or less in one piece. It needed some looking after, but it was still a good arm, just a little used. With a sigh Gin laid back down again, his one mechanical arm draped over his face and the other still bleeding over the clean bedsheets.

"You can't tell Tejed."

Samus cocked an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"She's…impulsive. It's for the best."

Samus didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"What about your eyes?"

"No!"

He had somehow managed, in the space of a second, to sit up again, face contorting in both worry and fear.

"It's…a Federation thing. _No one _can know _anything…_not even you."

"…what about the robot?"

Gin thought for a moment before flopping down again.

"Hackbot is an exception. He's the only one who can help me."

Without another word the hunter closed his eyes and somehow managed to worm himself onto his side, where he almost instantly seemed to fall asleep. Not wanting to bother him anymore but with a lot of things weighing on her mind Samus quietly left and closed the door, leaving him to himself. Somewhere, from the direction of what she surmised to be the kitchen, came the harsh muttered voice of Tejed as she ranted on to herself in a curious mixture of English and Space Pirate, no doubt blaming herself for putting Gin in this position. The smile having faded Samus started towards it.

Gin had said only Hackbot could help him. But did that mean only the robot was capable of the help he needed, or the robot was the only one he would let near?

* * *

"I lost control. I could've saved Gin but I saw him lying there all beat up and the first thing to flash across my mind was how good that dragon would look without a head, limbs, or internal organs, and despite myself I gave in. I _listened _to that obnoxious little voice that developed in the back of my head a few weeks ago and gave in to my insanity. "I could've said no, I could've helped Gin instead of releasing all my pent up anger and rage but I just had to go into Berserker and lay a number on that dragon, and the sad part is all my efforts were reduced to nothing, for to the dragon I was no more than an obnoxious little pest."

Tejed walked anxious circles around the kitchen, a glass of phazon in one hand and the other tugging on her ear. Samus stood in the doorway watching her, a very faint smile creeping across her face. This was the first time in a few months she had seen the hybrid without her suit. It seemed as though the suit had melded itself to her, as evidenced by the shoulder and knee guards, and the thick cables running from her right arm. If anything, Samus mused, her lankiness made her even scarier than when she was in her suit.

"And _I couldn't stop myself. _I tried and I tried but I simply could not turn the tap off and _stop _my rage fuelled attack. The voice had grown to a roar that clouded my vision and I _could not say no to it. _I hate it, I hate it, I hate it so, so much and if it weren't for my lack of self control Gin wouldn't be in this mess and he wouldn't be in a hospital bed right now and he wouldn't have machines hooked up to him just to make sure he's still alive and despite myself, back there, fighting the dragon, I enjoyed it in some sick twisted way I can't understand and if it weren't for my actions Gin-"

"-Gin's fine," interjected Samus, cutting the hybrid off from her guilt induced rant. Tejed stumbled, the glass almost falling out of her grip, and looked up, surprised the see Samus there.

"All he has are some broken ribs; he'll be more than fine in a few weeks."

Tejed's grief-stricken expression brightened and she let go of her ear.

"And it wasn't your fault. You're still young, still learning. The pirate's did a lot to you, both physically and mentally, and you can't be expected to instantly know how to handle it."

Tejed smiled slightly, relieved by the Hunter's kind words but still anxious about Gin.

"What about now? Is he…"

"He's fine. Just sleeping."

The hybrid relaxed visibly at her words and finally sat down, her too long legs almost looking like they were going to get tangled beneath the seat. Despite Samus' reassuring words Tejed still looked worried, and it struck the Hunter once again how much humanity the pirates, in whatever quest they were trying to take, had inadvertently left in her. Smiling Samus sat down beside her.

"You can't keep beating yourself up over something you couldn't control," she said quietly. Tejed's ears fluttered but she didn't answer, just stared forlornly into the glass of phazon. Samus put a comforting hand on her arm before getting up and leaving the kitchen, prompting the hybrid to slouch forwards until her head was resting on the table. She looked up for a brief second at the glass of glowing phazon before pressing her face back into the table.

"I swear one of these days I'm going to contract phazon madness from this stuff."

Sighing again she sat back up and gazed around the kitchen, feeling for all the world like a poor, lost puppy that had just done something horribly bad. A line of saliva snaked down her chin but she wiped it away before it could accumulate into a glob of drool.

"It's still my fault," she muttered bitterly.

"_Yes, it is. If you would've just killed him when we had the chance we wouldn't be here…" _

"Shut up," she hissed, unconsciously grabbing her ears again.

"_Ignoring me is a fatal mistake, Ms. Jenal. Embrace me, let us be as one…" _

Without warning Tejed lashed out at the glass, sending it flying to the other side of the room. It hit the wall with a loud crack, phazon seeping all over the floor. Her breathing was low and haggard and abruptly she stood up, hands going to her head.

"Why do you insist on speaking up at the worst times?"

"_Why do I insist on speaking up at the _best _times…?" _

"I'm not listening to you."

She pushed the nagging voice to the back of her mind, ignoring its attempts at sadistic conversation. At least she had something new to blame. It wasn't her that had lost control.

It was the voice.

* * *

Tejed leaned anxiously against Gin's door, muttering to herself and tapping a foot impatiently on the floor. What normally would have been soundless with an ordinary person was amplified with Tejed. Not in her suit, her mechanical feet tapping against the steel floor echoed all the way down the hall, an almost obnoxious metallic tapping. Tejed didn't notice or care, she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts. And once again the voice wasn't helping matters.

"_Don't wait around like some commoner, break the door down and devour all within…" _

"I swear, you have the _worst _ideas."

"_But they're not mine, they're yours…" _

"I thought I was ignoring you…"

The tapping had increased in tempo along with her frustration, and once again Tejed seriously considered ridding herself of her ears. Suddenly the door she was leaning on swung inwards and after a confused tumbled Tejed found herself, with a loud crash, face to face with the floor.

"Ow," she muttered dejectedly. The voice merely laughed at her.

"Oh, come one. You're going to laugh now?" she sneered.

"I…wasn't laughing."

Tejed winced slightly at the new voice and quickly got up from the ground, embarrassed that she had been caught talking to herself.

"Samus! I…"

"Who were you talking to?"

Tejed's ears fell slightly and she looked down at her feet.

"…the voice…"

"What was it saying?"

Tejed looked back up. Samus had closed the door and was leaning against it more or less the same way Tejed had been not five seconds earlier. For a brief second Tejed considered not telling Samus anything, too ashamed of herself to divulge her thoughts to the only person she looked up to.

"Tejed…?"

It couldn't be done. Ever since she had rescued her from a life of torture Tejed saw Samus as an older sister, the one person she could go to for anything. And Tejed couldn't lie to her sister, real or not.

"…horrible things."

Samus cocked an eyebrow.

"Like what?"

"…it…it wants me to kill…Gin."

Tejed rubbed the side of her now sore face and averted her gaze back to the floor, unable to meet Samus' eyes. The voice had abruptly changed tactics and was now urging her to kill Samus instead. Tejed's face twitched as she tried her best to ignore it.

"How is…Gin?"

"Still sleeping." Tejed looked up and smiled. "But your constant muttering out here is bound to eventually wake him up. That and your tapping…"

Tejed blushed slightly, her dark green skin tingeing with purple, and looked back down at her feet again, for once actually hating them and their biomechanical structure. Smiling Samus took hold of the hybrid's arm and led her away from the door.

"Now, about those voices you hear…"

* * *

Samus carefully undid the bandages and checked the hunter's side. It was bruised to hell and swollen, tender to the touch. Gin winced as she applied the new bandages.

"And then there was that whole escapade with the military. Crazy couple of years, I tells ya. If it weren't for…hell, I don't even know. I still blame that damnable project for everything."

He was blathering on, doped up on painkillers and tranquilizers. His ribs were healing nicely: a little faster than what Samus initially had expected but healing nonetheless. Now if she could just do something about his constant talking.

"That's where I got the arm, you know, in the _military_."

He put emphasis on military then started laughing, as though it was the most insanely hilarious thing he had said all day.

"Because you know what _military _is code for, right?"

"No, Gin. I'm afraid I don't," replied Samus with a sigh, trying her hardest to tune out his chatter. She gave Tejed props for that. _Not _listening to him was incredibly difficult.

Quickly Gin glanced around the room, paranoid that someone would overhear. He motioned Samus close and whispered into her ear.

"The _Federation_."

He waggled his fingers for effect. Samus mentally rolled her eyes and went back to her chores, cleaning up the med kit and making sure he was alright. Snickering to himself and with all the air of someone who had just divulged some huge secret Gin smiled.

"And it's not just the Federation, oh no. It goes…somewhere. Somewhere high up, but I'm not sure where. Not quite sure just yet. My brother had found something out before…before he…died…"

Samus paused and looked back at Gin. His chatter had stopped and he looked like he was about to cry.

"You have a brother?"

He nodded slowly.

"Vince. Old cyclops I used to call him. One eye was bright blue and the other was vivid green. Best in class, we were."

Absently he fingered some dog tags around his neck, dog tags that Samus somehow didn't notice up until now. A fox logo was inscribed in one, a delta symbol in the other. For a moment Samus had extreme déjà vu, as though she had seen those two symbols in conjunction with one another a long time ago.

"Delta…Fox?" she muttered, trying to remember. Nothing. The feeling had gone just as fast as it had come.

"Yeah! Delta Fox!" said Gin happily. "That was his codename. Me and him were equals, both leaders in our team. EPSiLoN, it was called."

Samus stopped dead and rounded on him.

"EPSiLoN?" she said, louder than intended. "What do you know about them?"

"Know about them? I was _in _them! Went by Omega Phoenix-000. We were all named after Greek letters and animals…don't remember all the others too well. Gamma…something or other. And a tiger…I think he was Alpha…"

He laughed. Samus would have none of it.

"What program were they in? What faction? What were they assembled for?"

Gin shrugged.

"Something about…Elites, I think. That was _years _ago, no one even cares anymore."

Samus resisted the urge to curse at him.

"You say you were Omega Phoenix. What did the Federation do to you? Any experiments?"

"I don't know," he replied as he shrugged, too out of it to even speak properly. "There was some crazy shots they gave me. Something something…Vince got them too, but his were perfected. Not mine, though. SabreX they called it…sabretooth tigers…I always liked sabretooth tigers as a kid. "

For the first time Samus noticed the faded tattoo in Gin's left arm: A large Omega symbol with three zeros underneath, a testament to whatever he was hiding. Just who was this bounty hunter?

"…What's your name?"

"Gin Phoenix! Bounty hunter!"

"Your _real_ name."

Gin was silent for a moment.

"…Gin Phoenix," he said slowly, seriously. "…But there's so many other things to talk about! Like my old boomerang. Vince stole it years ago, threw it into the billabong…never did get it back. Damn cyclops. Of course, he wasn't a cyclops back then, what with his scary as hell piercing green eyes, but…Damn cyclops."

Unfortunately, given the amount of painkillers Hackbot had given him earlier, getting information out of Gin was about as easy as getting milk from a brick. Instantly his train of though had shifted and he was no longer interested in the Federation. And considering his reluctance when he _wasn't_ drugged up, well, Samus wasn't getting the information she needed any time soon.

Frowning she returned to the med kit, a lot on her mind.

"You know Vince always made the best tea? I never could remake his recipe. I don't know what it was but every time I drank his tea for a few short seconds I was in tea heaven. Never did manage to get the recipe off of him. Crazy old cyclops…"

The med kit all together Samus once again turned back to him.

"Go back to sleep, hunter," she said quietly as she headed for the door.

"No, Samus. Wait."

She stopped at the door and half turned to him. He looked like a lost puppy watching its best friend leave. For a moment it broke her heart.

"…don't leave. I like talking to you."

She stared at him for another second before leaving without saying anything, closing the door gently behind her. What had begun initially as a means to help someone had evolved into both an impromptu information gathering _and_ a reason to keep him safe, both him and his secrets.

Apparently Mr. Gin Phoenix was hiding a lot more than he let on.

**1 week later**

"She wants to see you."

Gin choked on his drink and seemed to almost suffer a heart attack.

"Tejed?"

Samus nodded curtly. It took Gin a few seconds to calm down after the shock of knowing that Tejed actually wanted to see him, after which he was instantly suspicious.

"…Why?"

"She's worried about you."

Gin stared at her for a second before bursting into laughter.

"Wow, Samus. I didn't know you had a sense of humour!"

"I'm serious."

He stopped laughing.

"She's beating herself up over it, with the belief that she caused your current predicament. She thinks she hurt you."

"But all she ever does is insult me. Hell, she almost killed me once."

"She's insane and hears voices, how would you feel if you were in her shoes?"

She _did _seem horribly off when he had fixed her console, as though something terrifying had been bothering her. And she _was_ insane, from what he had seen. Gin mused that if he went through what she had gone through, he'd be pretty pissed all the time, too. But was it even possible for someone as inherently hostile as Tejed to care for anyone other than herself? Frankly, Gin was having a hard time believing that.

Sighing, he inspected his mechanical arm again, noting a few bolts that needed tightening.

"Fine. She can come in. I just…"

"…need some actual clothes?"

He smiled sheepishly.

"Yes."

"I'll help you," said Samus quietly, as she fetched his clothes.

* * *

Tejed eyed the door to Gin's room, now doubting whether or not she should go in. Samus had given her the green light, and Tejed had been overjoyed. She hadn't seen Gin since his chance encounter with exactly one spike studded tail and at the time she had been delighted. Now, though, standing in front of the door she was having second thoughts. She was, suffice it to say, nervous.

"_Going to see _him, _are we…?" _inquired the voice amiably. _"Good. I was wondering when we would slowly kill him…" _

Ignoring the voice she pushed open the door and peeked in, thick hair momentarily obstructing her vision.

"Gin?" she said softly, pushing her hair back.

"Hey, Tejed."

He looked tired and exasperated. But then, that's how he always looked. Tejed was happy to see him and for a brief second her austere face actually showed it. Quietly she pulled up a stool and sat beside his bed.

"How's your side?"

"It's…been better."

Normally happy, he seemed to Tejed less than excited to see her. It almost crushed her. More then ever she felt as though it was her fault, and that he blamed her for it.

"I'm…" she trailed off, unable to say what she wanted to.

"_You're sorry? I am, too. Why is he still alive? He's like a cockroach…" _

"You're not helping," she hissed. Gin gave her a weird look.

"So…Samus told me that…you hear voices."

The voice just had to ruin this, didn't it?

"Not _voices, a voice_," she growled, suddenly angry. "The opposite of plural, only _one._"

"Sorry for asking," he muttered, hands held up defensively. Tejed's eyes narrowed at his choice of clothes: a white shirt, a tan vest, and a pair of black leather gloves. Why would a bed ridden man wear gloves?

"What are you hiding?" she asked suddenly, prompted by the voice. For a moment Gin was at a loss for an answer. He gaped like a stranded fish before finding his voice.

"Nothing! Why?"

"You're wearing gloves. In _bed_."

"I…I always wear gloves! Under my armour, yep."

"No you don't."

He was silent for a few seconds, contemplating his next words.

"…Well, prove it!"

"I can smell the leather," she replied, tapping her nose for emphasis. "I never smelled leather on you before. _You're hiding something." _

"You're paranoid, Tejed. Why would I hide anything from you?"

"Because I'm insane and impulsive, which, now that I look at it, are very good reasons to keep things from me… Now give it up."

She grabbed his hands and tore the gloves of, not caring if they ripped or not. Gin tried to resist but failed, miserably I might add. A determined Tejed was a Tejed that wouldn't take no for an answer, which was _one_ of the reasons Gin had never told her. Yes, he had more than one reason.

She glared at his hand and rolled up the sleeve, the light glinting dully off his arm.

"What is this?"

"It's a P-3012, model 2, number 267789 of over 500,000 separate models. Custom made, may I add."

For something that he had slowly grown to resent over the course of years he sure sounded proud about it. Or maybe he was just proud that he had somehow managed to remember a load of useless numbers. Tejed glared at him, not impressed by his sardonic attempt at humour.

"I don't speak moonspeak," she sneered. "In English, Gin. Or Space Pirate, but you don't speak that now do you?"

"It's a prosthetic arm," he sighed. "I got it years ago in the Fed- …in the _military._"

Tejed's angry mood had softened and she sat down again.

"How?"

"Pirate raid or something of the sort. We were sent in to fight and…" he trailed off for a moment, trying to remember. "…and I was cornered. Damn pirate managed to slice my arm clean off." He chuckled. "At least I gave him what he deserved and lopped off his, as well."

"…that must have been painful."

"It was…it was…"

By this time the voice was going off on some tangent, trying desperately to get Tejed's attention. She tuned it out and said what she had wanted to say more than a week ago when she first saw him lying there unconscious.

"I'm…sorry," she said quietly, her harsh voice for once not seeming all that harsh. Gin seemed surprised.

"Wait, what? Say that again?"

"I said I'm sorry," she repeated. Gin started laughing, prompting her to scowl, appalled that he had taken her heart felt sorry and more or less curb stomped it into the ground. Without another word she got up and left, her antennae dragging forlornly behind her. It took Gin a full three minutes before the hilarity wore off, at which time he realized he was alone, and facepalmed.

"Just because it was funny didn't mean I had to laugh," he muttered. Well, at least he learned something new that day. It was actually possible for the common Tejed to think about others. It was either the seventh sign of the apocalypse or her regaining some humanity. He chuckled again.

"And here we see the wild Tejed, in a moment of kindness, yes folks, _actual kindness_, apologize for something." He said it in an over the top, forced, and stereotypical accent, like a host for some cheesy nature show, which actually wasn't all that far off from his _usual_ accent. He didn't notice Samus laughing at him from the doorway, amused by his farce.

"Looks like the drugs haven't _quite _worn off yet," she commented. Gin blushed, not realizing she had overheard him, and gave her a shy smile.

"That would probably explain why I started laughing, eh?"

"That might explain it."

Smoothly she sat on the same stool Tejed had used, a wry smile upon her face.

"Tejed looked devastated. What did you say to her?"

"…you mean she wasn't pulling my leg with the whole 'sorry, Gin' charade?"

Samus shook her head, prompting Gin to facepalm five times in rapid fire succession, his hand clanking against his head.

"This is why I _hate_ painkillers," He commented quietly, looking back up at Samus, suddenly suspicious.

"What did I say when I was…out of it?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, a little too quickly. Noticing his suspicious look she said it again, quieter, and changed the subject.

"You didn't say anything," she said gently. "But to tell the truth Tejed looked about ready to burst into tears."

"Where is she now?"

"Most likely back in the kitchen. Last I heard she was arguing with herself."

Gin looked horribly ashamed of himself. For a brief moment Samus considered asking him about the Federation right then and there, strike him when he's off guard. She even had her mouth halfway open and the question on the tip of her tongue when who else but Hackbot should run in, a syringe held tightly in his grasp.

"Painkiller time!" he announced happily, ruining her chance. Gin looked terrified.

"No, Hackbot, I'm not in pain. I don't need your-"

"Stick!"

What really managed to throw Samus off was not the fact that the robot had stuck Gin in the side of the neck with a rather large needle, but that he somehow thought it was necessary to exclaim 'stick!' while he was doing it. Samus shook her head, once again perplexed as to Gin's choice in friends.

"Toooo late," the hunter slurred, before promptly slouching back and falling asleep.

The chance had passed. Now that Gin was asleep Samus had no need to be here, and she only looked back once as she got up and approached the door, an unreadable expression on her face.

"You know something crucial about the Federation," she said quietly, guardedly. "And whatever it is, I have every right to know it, too."

It was one thing to have a hybrid on her hands that the space pirates were going through seemingly great lengths to get back, it was entirely another to have an injured bounty hunter that knew things, very specific things that she herself was looking for. She couldn't leave them now. She needed to get her information, first. Before the Federation did.

* * *

Ridley limped back to the frigate, his breathing low and haggard. Almost instantly the pirates of science team were on him, fixing his cooling towers and bringing his dangerously high temperature down. One of them accidentally pinched a nerve in the process and with a pained scream Ridley crushed him underfoot. Snarling he wiped the smear over the floor. There was nothing worse then a dead pirate stuck to one's foot. By the third day they always got _sticky._

"Progress report," came an imperious voice. Ridley was the high commander, he listened to no one. As such he ignored the voice; a grave mistake.

Like lightning one of the pirates, one clad in the armour of a high ranking individual, jumped up his spine and ran to his head, where he plunged his claw deep into the dragon's membranous brain. Ridley screamed in sudden pain and whipped his head around but the pirate held fast. Suddenly there was a flash of white light and Ridley found himself immobilized.

"_Progress report." _

The dragon turned a few of the eyes suspended in the membrane to the pirate, namely, its claw. It was clutched around his main nerve cluster. One wrong move and Ridley would be a dead man…er, dragon.

"There we go," cooed the pirate. "Now you realize who your master is, eh? I was the one who created you. Don't _ever ignore me again." _

Ridley wanted to claw his face off and feast on his organs. That or step on him. But then there was the whole ordeal with the stickiness. Instead he bowed his head in submission. The pirate chuckled.

"Now, progress report."

Ridley obeyed and activated what remained of the camera Tejed had ripped from the side of his head. A holographic image displayed in mid air, depicting a furious Tejed gone Berserker running up his spine a lot like the pirate had just done, before latching onto his head and going all out. The pirate laughed in glee.

"Very good!" he exclaimed. A few of the scientists stopped and looked up for a moment before going back to work. "TransFuse is beautiful! But if it didn't defeat you, then who…?"

On cue the recorded video buzzed with static, as though under heavy fire, and turned away from the insane experiment and towards a new threat. The pirate growled when he saw it, instantly full of rage.

"The Hunter," he seethed. She fired exactly two missiles at the dragon, each of them colliding with the towers. There was an explosion and a sickening crack, the towers falling away. A shrill alarm started off and with a violent shake TransFuse was dislodged. Camera fading to a dangerous red Ridley took off. With a burst of static the transmission ended.

Scowling the pirate let go of the nerve bundle and jumped off the dragon. Ridley shook his head, spilling blood everywhere. It sizzled just like Tejed's where it hit the floor, and an unlucky pirate. He screamed and hastily removed his armour, the blood eating into his flesh.

The pirate commander though, didn't care about science team's casualties. He sauntered back to his command post and carefully sat back down, always one to be as comfortable as possible. His claws clicked on the steel armrest of his chair as he pondered his new knowledge.

"Oh, TransFuse," he mused. "How wonderfully insane you have become. Now only if we can get you back…_And _destroy the _Hunter,_ in one fell swoop."

Ridley ignored him and snapped a scientist in half, eager for the feel of bones snapping between his teeth. It always did manage to lessen his frustration. The pirate who had taken a splash from Ridley's blood lay dejected in a corner, slowly dying, his organs visible where the flesh had been eaten away. Ridley laughed deep in his throat, the pirate's pain like some sort of hilarious joke to him.

"Ridley."

The dragon snapped to attention, not eager to feel a claw in his brain again.

"I have a new plan for you. What do you feel about killing…no, _destroying_ the Hunter, once and for all?"

Ridley said nothing. Indeed, he couldn't say anything with his lack of vocal cords. Instead he smiled wickedly and lashed out at the pirate in the corner, severing him so quickly and neatly that the pirate was still alive for a few more minutes, alive and confused and terrified.

"Good," chuckled the commander. "Just wait, _Hunter._ The great Zebesian race isn't one to forget past grudges. And you, my _friend_, will feel our force firsthand."

The clicking of his claws melded a bit too perfectly with his deranged laughter, laughter that permeated the entire ship, and filled its occupants with nothing short of fear.


	7. Chapter 7

Begin Lore

The Dark Ones. Whatever twisted morals guide their vicious pursuit for domination we shall never know. The path they take for their wicked goals is a warped and bitter one, and although they live for nothing more than supremacy we cannot help but envy their resilience, their almost one-track goal. It is the one thing they're taught as newborns, and the one thing they grow up learning, pounded into their consciousness by their own people so it is the only thing they will ever know. And that is their ultimate downfall. They are blinded to the world around them, their vision tainted red by their quest for dominance. We only hope the Scarred Warrior will come to terms with itself, and realize it is neither a Dark One nor a Young One, but something entirely different. And help save us all.

End Lore

**3 weeks later**

"God forsaken Aussie with his sardonic attempts at humour. _Pah! _He calls it being _funny?_ I call it being an _ass."_

Her scythes cut neatly through a pirate, severing his lower torso from the rest of his body. Dark green blood splashed across her visor. She made no attempt to clean it.

"I actually take the time and effort to express my feelings and he _throws it in my face, _like it was some dollar store trinket."

The screaming mass of pirates charging her from every conceivable angle didn't seem all too happy that she was there. Of course, the fact that she had crashed into their happy little frigate party and was systematically killing them all may have had something to do with it.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" she yelled, anger rising slowly by degrees. "I don't laugh at _him_ in my spare time. I don't chuckle at _him_ when he tells me important things. I didn't snicker at _his _crudely fashioned piece of junk arm, even when that _damned voice was urging me to!"_

A loud crack announced a pirate's back breaking beneath her feet. The sound, though decidedly grotesque, made her feel somewhat better. Good thing she had taken up that new bounty the Federation had offered her. Creating chaos and bloodshed on board the vessel of the species that ruined her life always made her feel better.

"And no, I'm NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU!" she screamed suddenly at the voice. "I'd much rather _rip spines out_ then listen to what _you_ have to say!"

To emphasize her point she grabbed the nearest pirate and promptly tore him in half, revelling a bit too much in his swift death, before grabbing his spine and using his severed upper half like some sort of gruesome ball and chain. The sound of pirate screams in their death throws was like sick music to her ears. She smiled viciously, for a moment forgetting her anger with Gin, lost in the moment.

"_Don't get _too_ ecstatic, Ms. Jenal. Save some of your anger for _him_…" _

She instantly scowled, the happiness having passed.

"Why the _hell_ did I help him anyway? Crazy Aussie with that damnable smile of his can easily take care of himself. Hell, he's even got Samus helping him. _Samus. _I don't even _like_ him."

"_Are you sure…?" _

For a moment Tejed suffered another mood swing and was extremely confused, puzzled as to why she was here and what exactly she was doing. Her arm faltered in mid swing, the scythes glinting malevolently in the dull light from the ship. A pirate saw his chance and leaped onto her back, wailing on her helmet with one of his lobster-like claws in an attempt to get it free and kill his foe. Just as quick as it had come the confusion was gone and Tejed was angry again, both at the pirate and Gin.

"You obnoxious piece of _vermin_!" she screeched, spit hitting the inside of her visor.

Reaching back she grabbed the pirate and swung him to the ground, stoving his armoured chest in with one of her feet. He sputtered once in his guttural voice before dying. By now the massive influx of pirates had died down and the room was more or less empty. They must have had some sense left in their tiny little skulls, she mused. When they realized they couldn't kill their own creation they took the coward's route and high tailed it out of there. Tejed smiled wickedly. Next came her favourite part. Hunting them down.

"How is it even possible for me, _me, _of all people, to _like _someone?"

Stalking silently through the darkened halls in search of prey was somehow comforting. It soothed Tejed's rage and made her feel safe and alone, and despite her bulkiness it came naturally. A little_ too_ naturally.

"I mean, _gah._ The moment I laid eyes on him I hated him. Always smiling, always cheerful. What is there in life to be so god damned cheerful about anyhow? It's like he's always looking for the best in people…Pathetic, I say."

Light chittering came from a door to her right and quietly Tejed snuck up to it, claws at the ready. Without warning she burst into the room and decapitated the pirate in one fluid movement before rounding on his comrade with almost feral intent. She grabbed him by the neck and forced him against the wall.

"What did he see in me?" she yelled. The pirate shuddered and clicked something in his language. Snarling she pulled him close and thrust her face into his, switching to Space Pirate so he could understand her.

"Don't understand English, eh? The one thing human you decided to leave in me?"

"…Please don't kill me," the pirate whispered, his rough voice curiously hushed. "I…I don't even know who you are."

Tejed faltered. She had never heard a pirate say anything to her other than the usual 'kill it!' and 'TransFuse blah blah blah'. Hell, she didn't even know the average Space Pirate was capable of anything other than animalistic screams and hatred. His left arm was gone, in its place a mechanical prosthetic a lot like Gin's. Whoever the pirate was he had seen a lot.

"…Say that again?" she clicked back.

"I…I don't know who you are or what you want. I just…Live here."

He sounded forced, as if he were having trouble speaking, that or he was having trouble saying what he was saying.

"...Who are you?"

"...I'm just a Pirate...Who hates what he's done..."

Tejed's hand trembled against his throat. She was unsure what to do. This had never happened before and had caught her completely off guard. The pirate looked, needless to say, terrified. He had closed his eyes and was awaiting the final blow, waiting for his head to roll across the floor just like his friend's had. His breathing was quick and shallow; he was hyperventilating.

"_It's one of them," _goaded the voice, frustratingly calm as always._ "Look at its pathetic attempt to save its own life. It cares about nothing other than itself. Let it free and it will stab you in the back. Tear off its head and be done with the vile creature already…" _

"No," she hissed, before letting the pirate go. He looked at her for a few seconds, eyes unreadable, before taking off and disappearing, his half metal face gleaming once before he was gone. Tejed stared at the doorway she had busted through, the jagged steel twisted savagely from her attack, her mind a confusing muddle of thoughts.

"…Why the_ fuck_ did I DO _THAT?" _

She immediately tore off her helmet and threw it to the ground, the steel floor buckling slightly from the impact. Scowling she pulled on her ears, frustrated and confused by what she had done but at the same time strangely happy, as though _not _killing gave her just as much enjoyment as the actual act.

"I could of at _least_ ripped his arm off…give him _two_ mechanical monstrosities instead of one."

"_I told you to kill it. Now it most likely has gone to its superiors, told them where you are. You're in deep shit now, Ms. Jenal…" _

"If you're a facet of my personality why do you insist on calling me by my last name?" she snapped irritably. "It makes no sense. Why would_ I _refer to _myself_ as _Ms. Jenal_?"

The voice didn't respond and Tejed smirked, happy that she had beaten it at its own game. That was the only thing she was happy about, though. There was now a pirate loose in the frigate who knew where she was, but for some reason she didn't care. It made her vaguely angry and annoyed, but she did not feel the need to pursue him. Instead she fetched her helmet and wiped off the tinted visor, catching her reflection in the process.

"Hideous as always," she muttered, thoughts straying inadvertently back to Gin.

"_Just admit that you like him. It'll make it all the more painful to kill him, but that much more exhilarating…" _

She fumbled with the helmet, almost dropping it, caught off guard by her reflection and its habit of talking to her. As long as it didn't manifest itself in something _almost_ real and try to strangle her, it was all good.

"Are you kidding me? He's _annoying!_ Why would I…"

"_You really need to get in touch with who you are, Ms. Jenal. You don't even know your own feelings. I could help you, if you just…" _

"NO!" It took a moment for Tejed's rapid heartbeat to slow down. She almost chucked the helmet into a wall but contained herself. "No. You stay…right there. Last time I let you out I almost killed…"

She was silent for a moment, the realization sinking in.

"…Gin."

The effect was instantaneous. Tejed started laughing, overjoyed.

"It makes so much sense! I'm not angry around him! He actually makes me feel human again! Well, somewhat human, but human nonetheless! I don't even have to listen to _you_ when I'm around him! Hah! Take _that_ voice!"

"_I'd…rather not…" _

"And you want to know _why _I feel that way around him?"

"…_crazy Australian mind control…?" _

"I like him!" she yelled. "You hear that, voice? I _like_ him! I haven't felt like this since high school and…What's his name. He didn't even know I existed. Spoiled rich kid…Never saw him again after he graduated exactly one year before me. Probably went off to live with his family in some fifty million credit mansion in the middle of some stupid rich place. But it doesn't matter because I like Gin!"

If there were any pirates nearby they probably would have taken off in terror. And if they stayed they probably would have been scooped up in a big bear hug instead. But to say Tejed was overjoyed was putting it lightly. Her face, usually stuck in some disdainful sneer or blank stare, was stretched into a huge smile. Granted it was terrifying in Tejed but it was still a smile.

"I haven't felt this way for…years! Fuck yes!"

She kicked the wall in joy and started off through the vessel towards her ship, helmet tucked carefully under her arm. She hadn't noticed that the pirate's body, bereft of a head thanks to her scythes, had seemingly vanished, nor did she care. She was simply too happy.

"_I'm…Scared…" _commented the voice quietly, unused to happiness. Tejed scoffed and looked back at her reflection in the helmet.

"For once, voice, I think I love you."

She kissed her reflection, much to the voice's chagrin, and skipped, yes, _skipped_, happily towards her ship, only stopping once to crush a dead pirate's head underfoot. Jarvis seemed less than impressed when she clambered back on board, covered in blood and laughing uproariously.

"…What's got you so happy?" he asked.

"No time for questions, Jarvis. Set a course to Earth, Federation HQ. I've got something to tell a certain bounty hunter."

Tejed was ecstatic, thrilled, and above all else insanely happy. Smiling she put her feet up on the main console and leaned back, content, ignoring the voice that, for once, actually had good advice.

"I forgot how ridiculously _good_ it felt to feel happy," she said blissfully, eyes closed.

"_I bet. Just don't come crying to me when it all comes crashing down…"

* * *

_

Samus didn't know why she was still here. She had already managed to pry most of the information she needed out of Gin. It was still vastly incomplete and missing in more than once place and she was still scratching her head over that name: Omega Phoenix – 000. Gin wasn't about ready to give up any more hints though, both sober or drugged up. So why was she still here?

The bounty hunter in question winced slightly as he sat up, his ribs still paining him despite the fact they were almost healed. The tattoo on his left shoulder caught Samus' eye again and with a jolt she realized it wasn't a tattoo, but a brand: a scar burned into his flesh, no doubt as a test, and as a symbol. She was here to keep his secrets, no matter how brutal they turned out to be, safe.

"Here, let me help," she said quietly. Gently she took hold of Gin's mechanical arm and helped him stand. His legs almost buckled but he managed to stand. Blushing he looked at the ground.

"Thank you."

Samus smiled warmly at him, but mentally she frowned. He had somehow managed to evade her detection for the better part of his life, which meant he was more than capable of keeping his own secrets. For a moment she felt horribly guilty. Was that why she was still here? So she could steal them herself?

"Do you think you c-could…" Gin stammered, as though talking around Samus had become increasingly hard. He took a deep breath, both to steady his nerves and the dull ache in his ribs.

"Do you think you could help me…To the kitchen…?"

"Of course," she responded quietly, mind preoccupied with other things. She was a bounty hunter, she had every right to get her information out of him, whether he liked it or not, whether she felt wrong about it or not. The job came before personal things…Right?

Putting on her usual stoic face and taking on an air or professionalism, Samus gently put the hunter's arm around her shoulder and proceeded to help him through the ship. It was only when they were a few steps out the door when Gin stumbled again, his face contorting in sudden pain.

"Come on, hunter. You can do it," whispered Samus encouragingly. Gin had slouched forwards and was breathing heavily, his hands leaning on his knees for support. The loose collar of his gown had fallen back slightly, revealing an old scar at the base of his neck, most likely where Hackbot had given him that injection weeks ago.

"What's this?" she suddenly asked.

Gin didn't respond right away, prompting her to look closer. It wasn't just a scar of flesh, it was also a scar of steel, an old metal rimmed hole that no doubt connected straight to his spinal cord. She had seen them a lot in her time with the Federation. They were usually a sign of Federation soldiers, people who had given up their very existence for a life of service. Dogs of war.

"An interface," she whispered. Gin seemed to realize what she was looking at and promptly stood straight again, ignoring the shooting pain in his side.

"Interface?" he said, a little too loudly, an artificial smile on his face. "Don't be silly. Why would _I _of all people have an interface? And in the back of my neck, no less!" He forced a laugh and gave Samus a sidelong look, not sure if she had fallen for his ruse or not. She just looked at him, face unreadable.

"…What could I even use an interface for?" he joked. Samus' eyes narrowed.

"That's what I'd like to know."

By this time Gin had turned red in the face. He never had been a good liar, that was what his brother was for. While Vince could lie himself out of a full-scale alien invasion if he so wanted to, Gin couldn't lie his way out of a paper bag. He always managed to botch it up in some horrible way, just like he did when he tried to hack into things. He simply could not lie. Or hack for that matter, but that was a different can of worms.

Samus was giving him a look, something that said something along the lines of 'I know you're hiding something so just give it up already'. He sighed. Samus was the only person he looked up to. He respected her for her skills and her determination, and all she had been through. Hell, he was pretty sure she wasn't even with the Federation anymore, considering what he had heard about that BSL incident a few years back. From the propaganda he had seen around the city for a few months, they made it look like she was some sort of monster out to destroy Galactic Peace.

And if she wasn't with the Federation, then it would be safe to just tell her already and get it off his chest. And, despite himself, Gin _was_ beginning to like her, as more than just a hero. But then, if she _was_ back with the Federation after all…

"Whatever happened on the BSL station?" he blurted suddenly. Samus didn't make any indication that she had heard, but the way her eyes shifted ever so slightly caught Gin's attention.

"The Federation was breeding Metroids. I destroyed them. I was denounced a common criminal."

"So…You're not with the Federation then?"

"They'd more than likely capture me on sight for what I did, regardless if it were in the galaxy's interest or not."

Gin relaxed visibly at her words, as though that was all he needed to hear.

"It _is_ an interface," he conceded, albeit a bit reluctantly. "It was for a…An old…_Federation_ built suit of mine, tapped right into my brain, it did. I thought, and it reacted."

He paused and gave Samus a sort of sidelong look, as though afraid she was going to steal his secrets and run off the ship with them. Instead she merely looked at him expectantly and smiled. He smiled back, relieved. Despite himself it felt almost good to finally get it off his chest. Maybe telling someone would finally quell his horrible nightmares.

"I was in a…program, years back," he said slowly, taking his time. "There were five of us, all of us specially picked for EPSiLoN, a team of…" he trailed off, unsure if he should tell her. He was already in too deep, it was now or never.

"…Super soldiers."

Samus made no surprised noise, gave him no shocked look. Instead she looked at him with that same unreadable expression.

"You don't look like a super soldier," she said smoothly.

"I better not," he scowled. "I left them _years_ ago. And I hope that stupid Elite Program is suffering from it, too."

The way he said that with such vehemence towards the Federation made Samus dead sure he wasn't pulling her leg or making stuff up. Once again the thought struck her that he was much more than a simple bounty hunter.

"What's your real name?" she inquired idly. For exactly one second Gin envied Tejed and her imaginary voice, if only for the reason that she could mentally argue with it, and he couldn't. Instead he debated with himself before settling on the answer. Samus was a good person, he could tell her.

"It's Vaughn."

Samus cocked an eyebrow.

"And do you have a last name, Vaughn?"

"It's..." he trailed off before finding his voice again. "It's M-"

"MASTER!"

Hackbot literally came sailing through the hallway and latched himself onto Gin's back, his hands held firmly over the hunter's mouth. Gin whimpered in sudden pain and almost fell, Samus catching him before he hit the ground. Whatever motives Hackbot was working on were no doubt good hearted, he just didn't know how to show them properly. Samus glared at him.

"Come on, get off," she said in an annoyed tone. "You're breaking his…"

There was a loud crack and Gin cried out. Samus winced.

"…Ribs…Again."

As though he somehow sensed his master was in pain, oblivious to his _cries of agony_, Hackbot abruptly jumped off and stood to attention.

"Damnit, Hackbot!" Gin somehow managed to yell between staggered breaths. "What the _bloody hell_ was that?"

"You told me never to let anyone know your secret!" he said happily. Gin's left eye twitched and he looked for all the world like he had just suffered an aneurysm.

"Why do I even live with you?" He sounded tired and annoyed, but more than anything, exasperated.

"I don't know!" Hackbot twirled on his heel and scampered down the hallway. Samus had watched the whole exchange with an eyebrow cocked. She was beginning to wonder if she had contracted some kind of eyebrow cocking disease, considering the amount of times she had done it on this ship alone.

"Why _do_ you live with him?" she inquired. Gin merely shrugged from his spot in her arms.

"I don't know."

Sighing, she half walked him and half dragged him back to his room and gently laid him down in the bed. She was about to ask him about his name again, but the moment had passed. The man was in pain, severe pain, by the looks of it. It would take significantly less time to heal, there was no doubt about that. Samus just wasn't sure Gin could take all this confinement to a bed anymore.

Wincing suddenly he cried out again.

"Looks like painkillers are in order," remarked Samus dryly, an unprecedented touch of humour somehow colouring her voice.

"No. No painkillers," he mumbled. He had somehow managed to bury his face in his pillow, most likely to hide his pained expression from her. Samus wasn't buying it.

"Even an ex-super soldier like you can be in pain. Take the drugs."

"But I don't like drugs. Took too many of 'em in the Federation."

"They're _painkillers_, not creepy narcotics. Take them."

"No."

It astounded her. Arguing with Gin was like arguing with a child. Hell, when it came to drugs he _was_ a child. Rolling her eyes she readied a syringe and, taking the Hackbot approach, quickly stuck him in the side of the neck. Gin gave her a sad puppy look before promptly passing out.

Good, silence at last. And more information. Samus smiled and left the room before frowning to herself. If she had just got some incredibly valuable information out of the hunter, then why did she feel so guilty about it?

* * *

Tejed couldn't remember a time she had ever been this happy. Even her slowly fading memories of when she was human afforded her no happy memories, and she was pretty sure that over twenty years of normal life had provided her with _some_ happiness. It was almost as though the onset of her new life had wiped all her old memories away. Maybe the pirates had done that to make sure she would do…Whatever for them. And maybe it was just her own diseased mind slowly deteriorating like some long forgotten ruins.

Whatever the case Tejed was happy, and though she simply could not remember a time when she had felt as such, she was still happy. Granted a happy Tejed was in a few ways scarier than an angry Tejed, what with the happy kicking of things and destruction, but at least she was happy and not disdainful…Right?

Carefully she clambered on board Gin's ship, wary not to dent the wall or scratch something. She was feeling happy and thus felt more careful, as though she shouldn't just absently break things out of whatever twisted spite she harboured. She had even decided not to wear her suit on his ship. The thing was bulky and though it felt like a second skin she was cagey about wearing it in the enclosed corridors of his ship. The simple black tank top and cargo shorts she wore would do her just fine.

One of her antennae caught in a vent and momentarily set her back. Briefly she contemplated ripping the vent right out of the floor but restrained herself, as the antenna came free with a simple tug. The voice would have none of this and was having a good time _trying_ to get her to rampage, to set her on the path of destruction again. She ignored it, too happy to listen to its deranged ideas.

"_No no no, what are you doing? Smash that wall in or something, cause mayhem…" _

"Not on Gin's ship," replied Tejed absently, as she slowly walked into the kitchen on the way to his room. If the voice had a physical face to go along with it, it probably would have twisted in rage. Tejed ignored it; a costly mistake.

"_What the fuck is WRONG with you?" _it suddenly screamed. Tejed stopped in mid step. _"You're an engine of destruction for god's sake! What are you doing falling for this Australian wanna be? I knew he was a bad sign the moment we laid eyes on him. If you don't end it already, I will!" _

"How can you do anything?" she asked with a smirk. "You're just an imaginary voice."

"_Don't underestimate the power of your insanity, Ms. Jenal…" _it said darkly. _"I don't have to be physical to hijack this party and twist it to my own will..." _

Despite herself Tejed shuddered, unused to such raw emotion from the voice. It bit at the back of her mind like a freezing arctic breeze and regardless of her inherent warmth she felt deadly cold. Shivering she wrapped her long arms around herself but it did nothing to comfort her.

"What's with the sudden hostility?" she asked, her loud voice coming out an unexpected whisper. Something shiny caught her eye on the other side of the room and against better judgement she turned towards it. A pot glinted on the tabletop, her reflection warped on its chrome surface.

"Aw damn, not this," she muttered. Already the room was taking on some darkened state, as though the laws of physics decided that they no longer applied here. Twin points of burning yellow glowered at her from the pot and she took a step back, bumping into a low stool. Time for some reflection games, she mused sullenly.

"_You actually like him," _the voice spat as it took control of her reflection. _"What a weak emotion. How…_human_, of you…" _

It tried to get out of the reflection, to confront Tejed face to face. Dark mist poured out from the pot and covered the floor, prompting her to scurry onto the stool. The mist swirled around the stool's legs and formed gnarled three fingered claws, grabbing for a piece of the hybrid. Still her reflection glowered at her from across the room with its damnable eyes, its ethereal body more than half formed in the cloaking mist.

"_Hand over the controls, Ms. Jenal. Let me be the one on charge. You've outdone your usefulness, it's high time you gave it all over to me…" _

"God damnit! No!"

In a spurt of terror and rage Tejed bounded across the misty floor and swiped at the pot, knocking it to the ground with a sharp clatter. Instantly the hallucinations dissolved and she snapped back to reality. Still pumped up on adrenaline from the experience her head whipped around the room, eyes scouring every corner, as though the visions would come back without warning. There was nothing. Slowly her breathing evened and her heartbeat slowed.

"Oh god."

Shaking slightly Tejed resisted the urge to cry, to break down and sob in the corner like a dejected child. Instead she mustered whatever happiness she had left, which was, suffice it to say, not a lot, and left the kitchen.

Next came the fun part, she thought. Tell him you like him, and see if he likes you back.

* * *

Samus had warned her that the man was pumped up on painkillers again. Last time she had seen him drugged up he had laughed in her face. Preferring not to remember that, Tejed had walked into the room anyway, full of self doubt and nagging voices.

"Hey, Gin," she said shyly. She mentally cursed herself for the softness of her voice as she took a seat beside his bed.

"Hey, Tejed," the hunter responded, his voice curiously slurred.

"I heard Hackbot broke your ribs again?"

Gin nodded slowly, as though he was somewhere else altogether. Tejed looked at him sadly, unsure of her own emotions. She certainly liked him, that much was certain. She felt at ease around him, not angry, and though the voice always wanted to kill him she could easily ignore it when in his presence. That had to account for something, right?

"So, uh…"

Tejed was at a loss for words. Normally her command of the English language never failed her, as evidenced by her almost absurd ability to rant and rave without a break. But here came the Aussie, with his stupid smile and his good nature, and his creepy skill to suddenly smash her ability to form coherent sentences.

Tejed wanted to break his face, and that smile. Break it so he'd never be able to smile again, much less eat or even speak. No, wait. That was the voice planting horrible thoughts in her head. Which, technicalities aside, were her thoughts, buried deep in her subconscious, dug up and thrown at her by the voice.

"I like you," she said suddenly. Gin didn't say anything. He didn't speak, he didn't laugh, and above all else he made absolutely no inclination that he had even heard. Tejed's ears fell slightly, like a dog that had just been punished.

"Psst, Tejed," whispered the hunter, a conspicuous look on his face. His mannerisms caught Tejed off guard, but she supposed it was because he was drugged up.

"…What?" she asked suspiciously. Gin motioned for her to come closer. When she made no movement he beckoned her again, and sighing she obliged, feeling incredibly stupid about it.

"What the hell do you want?"

"A liiittle closer…"

Grumbling quietly Tejed obeyed, only to have Gin grab one of her ears and give it a good yank. She straightened back up, confused.

"Your ears are so biiiig!" he exclaimed, laughing happily. Tejed's left eye twitched and she gently took hold of her ears, pulling them down beside her face.

"…No they're not…" she said softly. Gin continued to laugh, the whole ordeal raucously funny to him.

"They're like two giant radar dishes on the side of your head!"

Tejed blushed, suddenly incredibly self conscious. It didn't help that the voice was also laughing at her.

"_You know, he's right! They _are_ huge! Maybe we shouldn't kill him, at least not right away. He has a good sense of humour…" _

"Both of you stop," whispered Tejed sadly. The voice stopped but Gin continued to laugh. Tejed felt like a little girl on her first day of school: she wanted to crawl into a hole and forget everything. Unfortunately that wasn't happening any time soon. The voice jumped on her moment of weakness like a prowling cat and sunk its claws in deep, the sound of its voice like a demon's purr.

"_See how he laughs at you? As though you were some sort of circus attraction?" _the voice wheedled_. "He cares about you about as much as a snake cares about its prey, that is: not much. I told you this was a bad idea, just look at him…" _

"He's high on painkillers, I can't really blame him."

"_It's a farce, Ms. Jenal. He's not _really_ strung up on drugs, he's just playing it up so he can tell you how he really feels without fear of the consequences. He hates you, but doesn't want you to know, so he tells your face under the façade of drugs, like the coward he is…" _

"Dislike maybe, but _hate_…?"

"_Hate. Hate is such a strong word. Unfortunately it pertains all to well to this situation. He dislikes you. He pities you. He hates you. And why shouldn't he? Look at yourself, filthy creature that you are. I'm surprised you haven't done yourself in yet. How can you even look at yourself without feeling sick…?" _

"He doesn't really think that…Does he?"

"_Oh, but everyone thinks that, Ms. Jenal. _Oh, look_, they think. _Here comes that filthy amalgam of pirate and human, that hideous half-breed, that repulsive hybrid._ I dare say all those thoughts run through Mr. Aussie's mind here, every single time he sees you. Remember how he was last time? Not happy to see you? When for him you had nothing more than pure intentions…?" _

Against her better judgement Tejed was starting to agree with the voice. It sounded so sure of itself, as though it knew some elusive truth that avoided her at every turn. And now that she looked back on it, there was not a single time when Gin had been anything other than annoyed to see her. Even the Hunter, her one and only saviour, seemed less than ecstatic to know she was still alive.

Gin's laughter had died down. He snickered when he saw Tejed, her ears still clutched by the side of her face. It infuriated her. The voice was winning.

"_Yes, you understand now," _the voice purred_. "Human emotions? Love? Weak. It'll only hinder you. Make you more susceptible to the hate and the envy. They're envious of you, Ms. Jenal. They hate you because they envy you; us. Look at that sorry excuse for a hunter. He only hates you because he knows how close a bond we share. All you have to do is embrace what you really are..." _

"And what's that?"

"_A beast of war." _

"…Yes."

The voice had won, and it was ecstatic. Tejed on the other hand was surly and angry again, whatever vestiges of happiness she had clung to discarded like trash. Like some sort of mental parasite, the voice latched onto her negative feelings, growing slowly in power.

"_I told you I could hijack this," _it hissed._ "You're mine now, Ms. Jenal…" _

It started laughing, a low, almost evil sound that for a split second made Tejed shiver. Glaring at Gin, who had now fallen asleep, Tejed stood and left the room, determined to suppress her current feelings towards him, be it for the better or the worse.

* * *

Samus was oblivious to Tejed's mental struggle, unaware of the dangerous new route her thoughts had taken. When she found the hybrid talking to herself a week later in front of the ship she had taken the opportunity to teach her a few things about her suit. After all, the pirates had used what little they could scrap together of Chozo and Federation technology to make the damn thing, so Samus supposed she could help the hybrid with it. Unfortunately it wasn't panning out as easily as she originally surmised.

"How do you activate your scythes?" she asked smoothly.

"I'unno, I just do," replied the hybrid bluntly. Samus resisted the urge to facepalm.

"I mean, do you access some controls in the gauntlet, in your helmet, what?"

Tejed looked at her blankly, unsure exactly what she was getting at. It never occurred to her to wonder _how_ the suit worked, she just wore the damn thing and killed pirates with it. And it served her pretty darn well. Samus quickly changed tactics.

"Were there any strange sensations when you first put it on?"

"Like what?"

"Like…" Samus trailed off, her grasp of the English language failing her. Briefly she wondered if Gin went through this on a daily basis. Talking to Tejed was near impossible.

"Any weird pain?" she asked suddenly. Tejed cocked her head to the side as she tried to remember, resembling a curious dog as she did so.

"There _was_ a sharp pain in the base of my neck," she revealed. "Suit doesn't come off my back, either. Melded itself to my spine."

Samus smiled, glad that she was finally getting somewhere before standing and walking around to Tejed's back.

"Mind if I…?"

"Mind if you what?"

Tejed was blunt and to the point, Samus gave her that much.

"If I look at your back?"

"Sure, whatever."

Carefully Samus pulled back the back of Tejed's tank top, revealing the bulky line of steel and rivets that had, just as she said, melded to her spine. What really struck Samus, though, was the temperature of Tejed's skin. It was almost hot to the touch, but not quite. It was far above a normal human temperature.

"Why are you so hot?"

"Why what?"

It was hard to resist the temptation to smack her upside the head. It was almost as though Tejed wasn't even here, was in some strange other world where she paid absolutely no attention to what was happening.

"Your skin is hot. Why?"

Tejed shrugged in response and Samus, with a sigh, went back to her inspection. She figured it had something to do with Tejed's phazon infused system. She could have sworn she destroyed it all when she obliterated Phaaze, but it wasn't all that hard to speculate that the pirates, or even the Federation, had a few batches stored away somewhere. And Tejed just had to be the unlucky participant to receive most, if not all, of it. She sighed. Just another piece in a convoluted puzzle she was slowly getting closer to solving.

Ah, there it was. The steel spine ended in a very distinctive steel rimmed hole at the base of Tejed's neck, just like Gin's. Samus shook her head and straightened. Another interface, she mused. What was it with all the interfaces here?

"Your suit interfaces directly with your brain."

Samus sat back down in front of Tejed, eliciting another one of her blank brick stares in the process. It wasn't that Tejed was stupid or anything, her face just refused to register emotion. It was, for all intents and purposes, a brick…Most of the time.

"I'd say that's creepy, but…" The hybrid shrugged and looked at her hands before looking back at the Hunter. "Considering what I am, nothing's really creepy anymore."

"_What about me…?" _

Tejed shivered.

"Except the voice," she commented. "It's _always_ creepy."

"That voice sounds annoying."

"Annoying…" Tejed chuckled, amused by Samus' choice of words. "That's…Putting it lightly."

"What word would you use to describe it, then?" asked Samus, curious as to her answer.

"Word?" Unconsciously Tejed's lip had pulled into that old sneer. "One word doesn't describe it, I have a whole list. Vindictive. Obnoxious. Spiteful. Bitter. Mean. Conniving…" She trailed off for a moment, thinking.

"Scheming. Manipulative…Controlling…" Her voice took on an almost sad edge as she continued. "Easy to listen to. Too easy to fall for. Almost sweet. Like oil and honey. Always wheedling. Coaxing. Cajoling. Persuading. Winning me over…_Influencing_…"

"_Oh, stop, Ms. Jenal. You're flattering me…" _

Tejed didn't say anymore, unexpectedly self-conscious of herself and her blasted insanity. It didn't matter that it was something she had no say in, that was brought on by something she couldn't control. She still felt horribly ashamed that it should happen in the first place, as though the onset of mental sickness had broken what little humanity she had left.

Samus seemed to sense this and laid a comforting hand on the hybrid's too warm arm. The voice snarled at the touch, an action mirrored on Tejed's own face.

"_You're actually falling for this mock compassion? What did I tell you about the lies they feed you through a little straw? This one, too. She's just like the Aussie. She's just trying to make you feel better, not because she likes you, but so she can stab you in the back and spit on your corpse…" _

Scowling Tejed pulled her arm away, not wanting to fall into whatever carefully laid out trap the voice had convinced her Samus had hidden, though at the same time wishing sorely for her comforting touch again.

"Don't…Touch me," she muttered, unsure of her own actions. Samus gave a very discreet shake of the head and stood.

"At least come back inside," she offered. "I'd be more than happy to help you more with your suit."

Tejed stared at her. Why should she push herself away from the one person who saw the human girl beneath her fearsome visage? From the one person who decided not the let her sit and rot but break her free and give her a new chance at life?

"_Because she's just another human, and all they boil down to are envious monsters of hate and greed. Why should this one be any different…?" _

But she saved Tejed's life. She couldn't be all bad…Right?

"_But she is," _maintained the voice._ "Seriously, Ms. Jenal, we've been over this. She can't be trusted, Australia Boy can't be trusted; no one can be trusted..." _

"I'll take my chances," she muttered before standing as well. Samus looked at her curiously.

"Coming inside, then?"

Tejed looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm coming inside."

"_And I'm coming out..."

* * *

_

"Interfaces directly with my brain, eh?"

Tejed fiddled with her helmet, decked out in her suit again and sitting in a laid back position in the kitchen. Her feet were up on the counter and the chair she was leaning back on sounded about ready to break from her weight. Though her last encounter in this room wasn't as pleasant as she would have liked, the kitchen was one of the only quiet places on Gin's ship where she could just sit and be herself, and she enjoyed that.

The concept though, intrigued her, that her suit more or less listened in on her thoughts, or something along those lines. Earlier she had inspected her suit herself, seeing for the first time the sharp little prongs hidden in the neck, that corresponded perfectly with the interface on her own neck. It explained a lot, now that she thought about it. Unfortunately it didn't explain everything, like how her chainsaw worked.

Frowning she activated her twin laser scythes. They hissed slightly, a sort of low electric noise. Slowly she swung them round, careful not to hit anything with their charged lengths.

"I have scythes…" she muttered. "…But where's the chainsaw?"

The voice had decided to remain silent. For once Tejed wished it were speaking, if only to tell her in its derogatory way how to activate that blasted chainsaw. From what she remembered from her brief sojourns into Berserker it was a very satisfying weapon, one that she sorely wished to use again, _without_ the danger of forgetting everything.

Sighing she retracted the scythes, only to activate them again. Nothing. No chainsaw. She was staring to grow annoyed. What did it take to get something as simple as a chainsaw? What did she have to do to experience that raw visceral power again?

"_You could-"_

"No," she said quickly. "No. Maybe on a pirate ship, when we're all alone, but not now…"

"_Come on,"_ prompted the voice in its infuriatingly persuading tone. _"Can't you imagine how good going though it will make you feel?" _

"That's not the point…"

"_There's no chance of you getting caught, Ms. Jenal, I can see to that. You want to see the chainsaw again, don't you…?" _

"Yes, but-"

"_-I promise, no one will ever know. All you have to do is…"_

It trailed off, leaving the rest to Tejed to figure out. Was that was she had become, she thought sullenly, once again going back to her negative train of thoughts. What kind of decent person actually _wants_ to kill things? Oh wait, that's right, she wasn't a person. _Or_ decent for that matter.

"I thought I was ignoring you."

"_You always say that but you never do. I think it's because secretly, you like me…" _

Tejed heaved a heavy sigh and diverted her attention to her claws again, not in the mood to converse with that damnable voice right now. Absently she activated the scythes again, only to retract them, the smooth sound of them sliding out of their holster comforting. It reminded her of the damage they could do if she so desired, and that made her happy.

And then she was angry, at both herself and the voice. She was human, she didn't have to relish in pain and torment, that was what the space pirates wanted. Snarling she triggered the scythes again, only to retract and trigger them again with more force, each time coming closer to snapping.

"I'm not their tool," she seethed, the scythes cracking against the air as she triggered them again. "Nobody controls me but ME!"

She more or less yelled the last part, such hatred in her broken voice that the line of pots and pans on the wall trembled. There was a bright flash as she activated her scythes one more time and she was momentarily blinded, sensitive eyes screwing shut at the rude intrusion. When she opened them again it was not a pair of scythes she wielded but a trio of long straight claws.

"…Woah."

This newfound discovery caught her completely off guard. If she didn't know about these new claws, what else didn't she know, that was just waiting to be revealed? Mouth twisting into an almost childish expression of joy she swung them around gently, getting a feel for their long reach. Despite herself she chuckled.

"This is too cool."

"What are you yelling about?"

Startled Tejed quickly looked up to the doorway, almost falling out of the chair in the process. It squeaked loudly in protest but remained in one piece. Samus was watching her from the doorway. How long she had been there was a mystery, but it took Tejed all of a few seconds to feel humiliated in her presence.

"…Nothing," she lied, the claws retracting back into the suit. Samus had a disconcerting habit of making Tejed feel like a little girl again, despite the fact that she was well over seven feet tall and had phazon for blood. Tejed wasn't quite sure if she respected or hated the Hunter for it.

With a peculiar grace that can only come from years upon years of bounty hunting, Samus approached the other side of the counter and sat, propping her head up on her arms, elbows on the counter-top.

"I see you've discovered some new techniques."

"It's…Nothing," sighed Tejed, her steely resolve melting into almost girlish shyness. Absently she activated the claws again, only to come out with her old scythes. She cocked her head to the side. Odd. By all intents and purposes she should have claws, not scythes.

Samus chuckled lightly at her action. For someone as inherently daunting as Tejed the simple act of her cocking her head to the side was almost funny, cute, even. It reminded Samus of a playful kitten…a kitten without the claws and teeth and insanity that Tejed possessed. Alright, so 'cute' and 'kitten' didn't really fit with the hybrid, but funny did, in some weird obscure way.

Tejed on the other hand wanted to put on her helmet so Samus couldn't see her. It made her feel safe and secure. Too bad earlier she had haphazardly tossed the thing across the counter. It now lay glinting on the opposite side of the counter, too far for her to reach without compromising her comfortable, and hazardous, position.

"Have you tried out your cannon yet?"

"My what?"

It wasn't that Tejed had not heard what she had said, it was that she wasn't in the mood for talking right now. Quickly she glanced at her left shoulder, and the huge shoulder cannon that was situated there. Looking back at the Hunter she shook her head.

"Never got around to it," was her blunt reply. And it was true, she never had. She was always too busy being vicious to give the cannon so much as a passing glance.

"Why don't you give it a try right now?" Samus was curious as to just how powerful the cannon was.

"Right now?" questioned the hybrid, in a shocked sort of tone. "We're in the middle of a _kitchen._"

Samus shrugged.

"What's the worse that can happen?"

Muttering about damaging things Tejed obeyed and activated the cannon much the same way she did with her scythes. The effect was instantaneous. There was a loud boom and a blue shot of energy exploded against the back wall, the kickback momentarily knocking the wind out of Tejed. There was a brief moment of silence, shattered by a loud crack as her chair finally gave in and broke, sending her plummeting to the floor with an almost deafening bang. Samus winced at the loud noise, her hair set into a wispy fray by the heat of the blast.

"Ow," muttered Tejed dejectedly from the floor, taking a moment to regain her lost breath. Her legs stuck up like some absurd robotic chicken and Samus had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing at the ridiculous sight. Instead she smiled apologetically as Tejed clambered to her feet again.

"Maybe in the kitchen wasn't such a good idea, eh?"

Glaring Tejed leaned on the far counter instead, flinching slightly as it groaned in protest. With an irritated air she crossed her arms across her chest and took on a bitter mindset.

"Not really, no."

Faint footsteps echoed from down the hall and Tejed's head whipped towards it, her ears swivelling to take in most of the sound. A low growl somehow escaped her throat, like a dog that sensed an intruder. She didn't like it. It only served to remind her how far she was from human.

And who should walk in but one Mr. Phoenix, or whatever name he went by, propped up on a crutch to support his weight but otherwise healed. Tejed instantly sneered at him, the memory of his so called treachery still fresh in her mind.

"Oh, look. The Aussie's arrived," she remarked cruelly. He gave her a sidelong glance before staring at the smoking hole in the wall.

"Wha…?"

"Tejed's shoulder cannon," answered the Hunter. Gin returned his gaze to Tejed and gave her a 'what the hell' look before turning back to Samus.

"…Tejed has a shoulder cannon?"

"Apparently."

Gin couldn't help it. He facepalmed. Tejed chuckled deep in her throat.

"Be careful, Mr. Phoenix," she warned. "Facepalmitis is a serious disease."

He facepalmed again at her ridiculous warning.

"Making shit up now?" he asked in a tired voice.

"Why would I make up something so serious?" she asked back, face blank. "Some of the space pirates on the frigate I was held on had Facepalmitis. Poor souls facepalmed so much in one day the concussive force blew their brains out. I think it had something to do with the sheer level of idiocy they were forced to deal with."

"...Are you sure it wasn't _your_ palm blowing their brains out...?"

Tejed stopped to think for a moment.

"Yes. I'm sure...Waaaiiit..." She trailed off, as though she actually had to think about it before coming up with an answer. "Yes. I'm sure."

Gin's face had twisted in confusion, unsure of she was merely pulling his leg or telling some form of twisted truth. It was hard to tell with Tejed, and her blank face didn't reveal anything, so he wasn't quite sure. Sighing Gin turned his attention back to Samus and began talking quietly with her.

That old sadistic grin had come back to Tejed's brick of a face, and she liked it. If it meant alienating the only other person to befriend her, then, at the voice's request, she was all for it. Then Gin glanced at her and she felt a pang of brutal regret. What was she doing listening to this voice? Who was it to tell her what and what not to do?

"_Now, now," _whispered the voice._ "We can't have that now, can we? I think it's high time that I…" _

"No," whispered Tejed harshly. The voice bristled. Samus and Gin were talking quietly, ignoring her for the moment.

"_It wasn't a question, Ms. Jenal. It was a statement. The Aussie's already worn out his welcome. He's no more than dead meat to us anyhow…"_

Tejed felt the side of her face twitch but ignored it, and the voice. Sighing she watched the two hunters talk, feeling strangely left out. If she wasn't so irate she could easily be over there talking, too. It almost made her angry again, that they could get along so easily but she couldn't. Uncalled a vision of them dying at her claws came to mind and despite herself she enjoyed it, if only for a second.

The voice jumped on her moment of weakness, sinking its mental fangs deep into her consciousness. She stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden attack, a hand going to her head. Her breathing had grown ragged and it was a feat of will to keep the voice from taking over like it had with Ridley. The quietened conversation between the two hunters had stopped.

Another wave hit her and she clenched her hands into fists, leaning heavily on the far counter, her back to both Gin and Samus. The voice seemed more than intent on hijacking her again, and it wasn't letting down on its attack. Her heavy panting sounded like the low breathing of a feral animal and her face contorted in concentration as she tried to stave off the voice's attack. It just laughed at her.

"Tejed?" It was Gin. He sounded worried. "Are you…"

"I'm fine," she snapped, not bothering to turn around. Whatever vestiges of humanity her voice had at one time were gone, in its place low raspy undercurrents of barely suppressed insanity. She was fighting a battle that she was ever so slowly losing and the voice knew it.

"_Don't lock away your true nature, Ms. Jenal. You and me are one and the same, two sides to the same coin…" _

Tejed didn't respond, prompting it to continue.

"_I think it's high time you introduced me to your 'wonderful' friends. If you don't let me out, don't worry. I'll let myself out…" _

"No," she whimpered, eyes clenching shut. The failsafe at the back of her mind twitched and she shuddered, close to tears.

"_Let me out…" _

"No."

"_Come on…" _

"NO."

"_Just open the failsafe…" _

"_NO." _

The voice grabbed at the failsafe and gave it a violent tug, wrenching her head to the side.

"_I can't do it on my own…" _

"NO! _FUCK YOU_!"

She lashed out at the line of kitchenware against the wall, sending them crashing to the floor. The voice merely laughed and pulled the last of the failsafe away, her sudden anger exactly what it needed. Her eyes sputtered but failed to catch fire. The voice growled and proceeded to try again.

"GET OUT!" she screamed, both at the voice and the two hunters. They seemed to get the message and took off, leaving her alone with herself. Snarling she grabbed the nearest object she could, a heavy cast iron frying pan, and proceeded to bash herself in the head with it in an attempt to drive out the voice.

"GET OUT, GET OUT, _GET OUT!"_

The pan clanged hollowly against her head in time to her almost hysterical screams, deforming more and more from each powerful blow. About the only thing her frantic actions managed to achieve was both a bruised skull and what used to be a pan. Amused by her reactions the voice struck again, this time managing to take hold.

Tejed gasped in sudden shock as the voice took over and dropped the pan, hands going to her head again.

"Why does this always happen?" she sobbed, eyes catching fire again, this time accelerating into a steady burn.

"_Because it's who you are," _answered the voice with a chilling laugh._ "Why bury who you are so deep? Why go through all the trouble of denying your true nature when you can just accept it and be happy…?" _

"Because who I am doesn't make me happy!"

"_Oh, it makes you happier than you'll ever know, Ms. Jenal. If only you would just take the time to listen to yourself…" _

Screaming bloody murder the hybrid triggered her scythes in preparation to wail on the wall, only to find herself with exactly one chainsaw. She should have been ecstatic. After all, it was what she wanted all this time, right? A chainsaw to kill things with? It only managed to anger her further. Snarling she attacked the wall, the chainsaw's sharp teeth shrieking as it cut through the thick steel like butter. Sparks flew everywhere.

"_Yes," _cooed the voice._ "Good hybrid. Now if only we could direct that beautiful anger at a particular Aussie…" _

Vision tainted a sickly red Tejed continued her violent attack on the wall, driven into a murderous frenzy by the cajoling of the voice yet still with just enough sense to keep herself confined to the kitchen. The last thing she wanted was to wrest control back, only to find both Samus and Gin dead somewhere, claw marks covering their bodies.

"I won't give you the pleasure of killing them!"

For a moment the chainsaw stuck in the wall. It whined and screeched as she tried to pull it free, filling the air with thick black smoke. An aggressive jerk pulled it free and she turned on the rest of the kitchen in an attempt to dissipate her anger, sate her slowly growing bloodlust.

"_You won't give _yourself_ the pleasure of killing them, you poor naïve thing you…" _

The voice sounded almost sad, as if it knew something Tejed didn't. She did not care. As she wrought devastation upon the small kitchen the only thing she cared about was driving away her inhuman amount of anger, hatred, and rage. And at this rate she was beginning to think that would never happen.

A swift downward slash of the chainsaw rendered the main counter in two pieces. Growling she stepped on the bent pan, hard mechanical feet flattening it, and swung the chainsaw around again, hoping this time to leave a nice jagged rift in the cabinets. A light tapping of quick feet caught her ears but she ignored it, intent on her destruction.

Without warning something cold and hard pressed into her temple, stopping her in mid swing.

"Calm down, Tejed," hissed a smooth voice. "Or so help me I'll have to put you down, and that's the last thing I want to do."

Snarling Tejed revved the chainsaw, its hungry sounding roar filling the devastated room. Samus' laser pistol just pushed harder into her head. Out of the corner of her diseased vision she caught Gin, staring at her with fear, and her anger abated, only to come back with more force.

"Help me," she whispered harshly. Samus made no indication of moving, the pistol still aimed at the hybrid's brain. The side of Tejed's face twitched again and suddenly she swung around with the chainsaw, flinging the Hunter away from her. She hit the back wall with a sickening crunch and shakily found her feet, the pistol pointed at Tejed's face.

"DO IT!"

Samus faltered, momentarily confused. Despite herself she liked Tejed. The hybrid had a lot of resilience and Samus admired that. Killing her was the last thing she wanted to do but if she had to, then so be it.

Tejed on the other hand was trying to restrain herself, her whole body shuddering from the strain. Her muscles spasmed, yearning to be free and wreak their distinct brand of havoc, and the taste of rusted steel in her mouth was almost overpowering. It was almost as if she had been sucking on a mouthful of pennies, or something to that extent. Scowling the fire of her eyes flared, stoked up by her anger and rage.

"Just fucking DO IT ALREADY! BEFORE I_ KILL YOU BOTH_!"

Without hesitation Samus fired. The hybrid's head jerked back and she stumbled backwards, seemingly unharmed by the pistol's discharge. When she looked back at the Hunter there was a smoking hole in her forehead leaking green blood. Slowly her eyes faded until they went out, the screaming voice inside her head weakening until it stopped entirely.

Tejed was in control again. Without her insanity driving her actions she fell to her knees and began to cry.

"Please help me, Samus. I need help…"

"Yes. Yes you do."

Samus holstered her laser pistol and without another word approached Gin. Glancing back once they left. The only thing Tejed could do was follow, a claw held shakily to her oozing wound. And never before had she felt so utterly ashamed.

* * *

"Progress report." The voice was distinctly southern and with a noticeable drawl.

"TransFuse has…Escaped."

"…pardon?"

"…TransFuse is…Gone."

Silence.

"We finally manage to get a hold of y'all after god knows how many months and you tell me that it's _gone?"_

No response. Jim Shaw massaged his temples, unable to believe that TransFuse was actually gone, and only after more than a year of making it perfect. Sighing he looked back up at the viewscreen.

"How did it escape?"

The shadowed alien on the viewscreen didn't respond right away. It seemed hesitant.

"Commander…?"

"It was the Hunter," it hissed. Jim had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. Oh, the irony. The alien seemed to notice and hissed at him.

"Whatever is so funny, Mr. _Shaw?_" it asked spitefully.

"The irony escapes you, doesn't it?" he replied smugly. "We go through all this trouble to create Samus' destroyer, and she waltzes along and sets it free." He chuckled again. "Oh fate, you cruel, cruel bitch."

"We sent OMMR after it, but it failed."

Jim cocked an eyebrow at the surprising news.

"OMMR _failed?_ TransFuse must be stronger than expected…"

"And there's more…"

"More?"

"It has sided with the Hunter. And they're both on _Earth."_

Jim scowled and paced in front of the viewscreen, the alien's glowing, pupiless eyes following his every movement. It couldn't be here, on Earth, could it? He would have known if a seven foot tall space pirate monstrosity was gallivanting around on his planet. He would have seen, somebody would have told him. Jim Shaw hated being left in the dark.

"There hasn't been any records of it here," he said quietly, the pacing having stopped. "There _was_ an unexplained explosion downtown a few weeks ago, but I was told it was just a gas leak…"

The alien didn't say anything and Jim sat down at his desk. There was something going on, his own subordinates were lying to him. Something that big could not have been a simple gas explosion. But those were musings for another time. Sighing he reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle of the best alcohol his gratuitous amount of credits could buy.

"And how are the two workers we sent you faring?" he inquired, the bottle already at his lips. The alien grinned sadistically.

"They are fine workers. We only give them the _best _treatment."

Jim nodded absently, the booze already taking effect. Potent stuff, he thought. Vaguely he riffled through some papers on his desk.

"And the Alpha?"

"A few more months, at the least. OMMR's failure has set us back significantly."

"Good," chuckled Jim. "You guys could use more work anyhow."

The alien sneered at him. It was plain by the way his eyes sparked that he hatred every moment talking to Jim. Jim was too inebriated to notice.

"Will there be anymore, Mr. _Shaw?_"

"Huh? No, that's good."

The alien bowed in a sickeningly deceitful sort of way and terminated the connection. Jim put down the bottle and slumped down into his chair, mind a turmoil of thoughts. There was simply too much crap going on for him to keep track of anymore. There was the Elite Program he had to take care of, bounty hunters to pay, criminals to lock up, and now he had exactly one insane experiment running around his city. Good thing he still had his sanity. Any normal person would have gone crazy from the amount of work he had to see to.

Sighing heavily he picked up the bottle again and took a big chug. The fiery liquid burned as it went down his throat, leaving a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, like bile. Quickly though its other effects took hold and he found himself pleasantly tired and light, as though nothing could bother him.

"Stupid pirates," he muttered absently as he took another swig. "Can't even keep their own experiments in check."

"Filthy human," seethed the commander, the viewscreen having gone black. If there was anything he hated more it was talking to that filthy pink skinned mammal. It always made him shudder.

"Zotch'Ti!" he yelled.

On command the leader of Science Team scampered over, his scraggled antennae dragging forlornly behind him.

"Yes, commander?" he asked meekly, avoiding his superior's eyes.

"How _is_ Alpha coming along?"

Quickly the pirate scanned a set of reports, his half metal face gleaming dully in the light of the ship.

"More or less done, commander," he responded quietly. "Just a few more tweaks. At most it'll take us a week to get it up and running."

"Very good."

Zotch'Ti lowered the reports and opened his mouth before closing it again, unsure if he should speak or not. No, not now. Not ever. Zotch'Ti decided not to say anything. The commander didn't notice.

"Filthy creature," he spat, recalling Jim Shaw on the viewscreen. "It should consider itself _lucky_ to converse with one of the great Zebesian race."

The leader of Science Team took his chance and ran, not wanting to be near the commander when he was angry.

"Like hell if I tell it the truth," ranted the commander. He smiled sadistically. "Just wait until Alpha is ready, my dear human friend. When I get TransFuse back and finish its programming, both I and the great Zebesian race will be _unstoppable."_


	8. Chapter 8

_Start Lore _

_The Young Ones. They are one of the youngest people in the galaxy, and because of that, the most impressionable. They are easy to manipulate and quick to incite. We cannot blame them, they have a lot to learn. They still resort to such primitive things as money and war, and though even some of the older peoples still use these the Young Ones cling to them as though money and war are the most important things to them. _

_They made a grave mistake when they chose to side with the Dark Ones. The Dark Ones are cunning and manipulative, a dangerous combination when combined with these young people. They have already been corrupted by the Dark Ones, and we can only hope in due time they learn of their mistakes and grow like us, become something more than what they are. _

_If the Young Ones continue on this path, all we see for them is suffering. _

_End Lore

* * *

_

"You're too unstable, Tejed. You've snapped too many times, and this recent episode is no exception. What the hell were you thinking? _Listening_ to the voice? Never listen to the voice, it only gives you _bad ideas_."

Samus never let her emotions show. She was cold and heartless, hardened after years upon years of hunting. But Tejed's little escapade into crazy land was a little too much for her to keep that stoic face on. She didn't know why she was angry; she hardly blamed the hybrid for it; but she couldn't sit back without at least talking to her. Or ranting, as it had turned into.

"It's like some sort of vicious cycle. The voice needles you, you respond with anger, the voice latches on to the anger, you get even more angry, the voice grows, the failsafe switches off, and BOOM, you're stuck in a violent rage! How can you not see this!"

Samus paced in front of Tejed like an angry parent in front of a child. Tejed had almost visibly shrunk during the Hunter's lecture, her eyes full of sorrow. A half eaten away bandage was wrapped around her forehead, its clean whiteness stained dark green with splotches of red, and she looked like she was about to cry. Samus didn't seem to care.

"My god, you're like a little child!" she continued. "You don't even know how to control your _emotions,_ let alone your fancy suit! I don't know what the pirates were even thinking at the time! Probably something like 'let's grab an innocent human girl and experiment on her, see what happens'. My god, they have to worst ideas. And you!"

She pointed a finger accusingly at Tejed. The hybrid flinched but did not respond.

"Why do you insist on giving in to the voice's demands? What are you, stupid or something? Do you not see what its trying to do? Are you _blind?_"

"…I guess I am…" muttered Tejed dejectedly.

"Yes. Yes you are." Still fuming Samus continued her pacing. "How old are you, anyway? By the way you act I'm guessing no more than three. Four, at most."

"…Twenty seven…"

"Oh, of course. You're twenty seven. How could I not see it? Because you're _oh so_ _mature._"

She held her hands up to the air, as if asking some higher power what the hell she was supposed to do here. No answer. So much for ancient Chozo wisdom, she thought sullenly. Tejed was growing slightly insulted by the whole rant, her dignity being stomped all over a bit too much for her ego to accept.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "But I've never been _insane _before, now have I?"

"That's not an excuse!" yelled Samus, rounding on the hybrid. "You still have _some_ common sense left in that thick skull of yours. I've seen it; you're not an idiot, Tejed."

"I did have common sense," retorted the hybrid. "I kept myself confined to the kitchen even when the voice was urging me to find and kill you. I restrained myself at the last minute. _I realized what had to be done._"

"And I don't hold that past you. You're actually quite intelligent. Now if only you could put that intelligence towards something productive…Unless that frying pan you used knocked it all out, along with your remaining common sense."

Gin snickered absently from the other side of the room, the deformed frying pan in his hands. Tejed resisted the urge to shoot him a glare, too scared to leave Samus' eyes. A hard knot had formed in her throat and the same phrase ran rounds around her head:

_Don't cry in front of the Hunter, Tejed. For the love of all that's good and holy don't cry in front of the Hunter. _

"I'm starting to think common sense is going extinct, or at least I think that whenever I see you." She jabbed a finger into the side of Tejed's head to emphasize her point. The bandage ruffled slightly before falling off completely, revealing the still oozing wound on the right of her forehead. Evidently phazon infused blood and a normal cotton bandage didn't mix all that well.

"And the bandage falls off," commented Samus dryly. "Of course it does. It's not like you have normal blood or anything. God damned phazon is just rampant throughout your system. You're like a phazon sieve, constantly leaking the stuff. How much did they pump into you anyhow? No, don't answer. Most likely vats and vats of the stuff."

"…I've also never been a freakish phazon infused monstrosity before…" Tejed muttered.

"That's an even worse excuse! You're forgetting again that you're neither Pirate _nor_ Human. Do you hear me? _Neither._ You're something completely different. Pirates don't have common sense. I mean, look what they did with you! The idiots even make doors on _their own ships_ that only I can open! I'm starting to think they only have two words in their language: Hunter and Kill. Last time I checked you had both common sense _and_ a complete vocabulary. _You're not a pirate_."

Swallowing her pride Tejed just stared forlornly at Samus, not trusting herself to speak.

"And don't give me those puppy eyes!"

Tejed flinched but didn't respond and continued to stare. Samus stared back, face resolute.

"Don't even think about crying," she warned.

The lump in Tejed's throat broke and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Damnit, Tejed!" she yelled angrily. Tejed shrunk more into her seat, wishing sorely for her helmet. At least she had some safety inside her suit…Some safety. She wanted something to hide behind, not hide in. The voice was laughing raucously at her, apparently finding her distress insanely hilarious.

"You just shut up," the hybrid whispered.

"Ah ha!" exclaimed the Hunter, rounding on Tejed again. "What was that?"

"…What was what?" replied Tejed quickly, not wanting Samus to know she was talking to the voice again. Samus saw right through her ruse.

"You were talking to the voice again, weren't you?"

Tejed hesitated before slowly nodded, feeling horribly ashamed of herself again. She was starting to think it was the only think she ever felt around Samus. Samus changed her tune and sat down beside the hybrid, a hand on her gauntleted arm.

"What was it saying this time?" she asked quietly, the hard edge gone from her voice.

"…It was laughing at me…Again…"

"And what do you usually do in that case?"

"I…" Tejed's voice caught in her throat. "I…get angry…"

"And therein lies the problem!" shouted Samus as she stood. "Honestly, I don't understand you! I don't understand anything about you! It's just a voice! It's not even real, for crying out loud! Why can't you just ignore it and get on with your life?"

Tejed started crying again, prompting the Hunter to rant even more.

"And you're crying again! For god's sake, Tejed, look at yourself. You're _terrifying._ You're intimidating and imposing and all around scary and the first thing I thought when I saw you in that cell was 'Jesus, I better not have to fight this thing'. Big, scary space pirate hybrid like you, and you get all teary at the smallest provocation? How do you even manage to go on raids if you break down whenever someone insults you? "

"It's not-"

"-I don't care," interrupted Samus. "I'm not here to be your nanny, I'm here to keep secrets from falling into the wrong hands. Just control your god damned anger and maybe, just maybe, your insanity will follow…Jesus…Sometimes I have to wonder why I even saved you…"

Without another word she turned and left the room, her own anger having been spent. Gin looked at Tejed before leaving too, the pan still in his hands. Outside Samus closed the door and leaned heavily on the wall, sighing as she did so. Gin hesitantly approached her, unsure how she would react after her attack on Tejed.

"Samus…?"

The Hunter opened an eye and looked at him, face unreadable again.

"You don't think…You don't think you were too hard on her?"

"What? Of course not. She can handle it."

Gin peered back through the window on the door. Tejed had broken down into a sobbing mess. He turned back to Samus.

"She's devastated," he said. "I've never seen her cry. She's only like this around _you_."

Samus gently pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed again.

"God, I'm sorry. It's just that she's so…So…" She trailed off, uncertain what the right word to describe it was.

"Infuriating?" offered Gin.

"Yes! Infuriating!" exclaimed Samus. "How do you even manage to put up with her?"

Gin stared at her blankly for a moment.

"I live with Hackbot. _Hackbot,_ Samus."

Samus facepalmed, wondering once again what prompted her to associate with these people. For all intents and purposes she was a bounty hunter. A _bounty hunter._ She should be out in whatever uncharted reaches of space hunting down space pirates and criminals and villains and getting paid for it. She had no reason to even be here anymore. Gin had told her everything she needed to know and she was good to go.

"Oh, god. Hackbot. How could I forget? It's like living with a tamer version of Tejed."

"And it's not like I _live _with her. Hell, I hardly even see her. She's always off on some bounty somewhere killing things and I'm almost always…_Busy._ This is the first time she's even been on my ship, and before that the first time I've actually seen her in a month."

Samus didn't respond and Gin laid a comforting hand on her arm. The thin material of her zero suit felt almost like a second layer of skin.

"And you have to admit she's a good person, despite her…Quite _obvious_ shortcomings. Her heart's in the right place." Samus was silent for a moment. "…And, if you haven't really noticed, she kind of views you less as her saviour and more as a big sister. She looks up to you, Samus."

Samus facepalmed at the realization. How could she not have noticed? She must have been too busy trying to wheedle information out of _Vaughn _to notice that Tejed had more or less latched onto her like a little child. It would explain why Samus had blown up at her like that. Like a big sister. Sighing she peered back through the window. Tejed looked like a mess. Samus facepalmed again.

"It was when I said I never should have rescued her, wasn't it?"

"Among other things, yes."

Sighing again Samus regained her resolve and opened the door. Quietly she sat down beside the hybrid again, her anger at Tejed's foolish actions gone.

"I'm sorry for saying that," she said lightly. Gin watched from the door. Tejed just stared resolutely at the floor, her faintly glowing tears leaving tracks on her face. For a moment Samus felt terrible. It had been a horrible thing to say.

"You know, anger is a perfectly natural feeling," she continued. The hybrid didn't look up. "I don't blame you for getting angry. You've been through so much crap that it's almost justified. The pirates did horrible things to you."

No response. She changed her approach.

"What usually happens when you enter Berserker?"

The hybrid finally looked up, startled.

"I…" she faltered. "I forget everything; go into a mindless frenzy…"

"And do you like it?"

Tejed thought for a moment before nodding sullenly. She hated the fact that she enjoyed it. It made her feel like a monster.

"You're not a monster," replied Samus quietly, as if she had read Tejed's mind. Tejed looked down at her feet again, unable to look into the Hunter's eyes. Despite herself Samus found Tejed's case heart-rending, and found herself wanting to help, at least in part. And the bounty hunting? Her job? Fuck the job. She had been heartless for far too long. Time to make some friends; make some people happy.

"Tejed, look at me."

The hybrid looked up again, her normally bright yellow eyes dulled down to a lacklustre yellowish orange.

"Do me a favour, next time you enter Berserker. Try to remember your name. Amid all your colliding thoughts, amid all the voice is screaming at you, remember who you are, and what you're fighting for."

Another tear ran down her face and Samus smiled.

"Ignoring what you are would be the biggest lie you could ever tell. I'm not going to sugar-coat it, you're a living weapon and never forget that, but that doesn't mean you have to act like one."

Tejed looked down again. The tear splashed on the floor but didn't eat through it, the levels of phazon in it near non-existent compared to her blood.

"You're going to have to enter that state of mind you hate so much again, and again after that," Samus continued. "It's simply who you are. Don't push it away, embrace it. But don't become it, either."

Despite herself Tejed felt somewhat better, though she still felt humiliated and small in the Hunter's presence. All she wanted to do at this point was squirrel herself away somewhere and go to sleep for a few hours. Sighing Samus put a hand on the hybrid's split chin and pulled her face back up, ignoring the sticky accumulation of drool that was now covering her hand.

"Would you like a hug, Tejed?"

Tejed didn't answer. Instead she wrapped her arms around the Hunter and buried her face in her hair, glad for this small bit of human comfort, no matter how brief it was. Samus chuckled and embraced her back, for some reason glad that the hybrid wasn't sad anymore. Or at least less sad.

"I'm sorry for everything," Tejed whispered.

"Don't be sorry, you're still learning."

Gin laughed quietly to himself from the door, amused by the scene of exactly one daunting, scary, and otherwise huge hybrid hugging the small and seemingly fragile Hunter. They were contrasted so sharply it was almost funny: angles and points Tejed and lithe flowing Samus. It was charming in its own special little way but it was still funny to watch. If Tejed decided to squeeze just a little harder Gin was certain she could easily crush the Hunter to death, just like that.

Though it did make him feel happy that she was happy. Smiling he tossed the bent pan to and fro from hand to hand, pleased despite the fact that his kitchen had been devastated and there were now chainsaw gouges in the walls. He had finally remembered why he first talked to her months ago: he wanted to help. And it seemed as though, little by little, he was.

Something started beeping loudly on Samus' side and quickly she withdrew from the hug to answer it. Her comm. device glared angrily up at her, its screen marred with bright red. She sighed and stood. Tejed just stared at her curiously, unsure what was going on.

Startled by the sudden sound Gin faltered and dropped the pan. It clattered noisily to the floor, its metallic clanking almost rivalling Samus' obnoxious distress signal. They both turned to look at him and he merely shrugged as if to inquire 'what?'. Samus rolled her eyes, amused by his bewilderment, and accessed her comm. device, silencing its loud alarm.

"A bounty," she muttered inattentively, clicking through the device's interface. Curiously Gin had approached her and Tejed had stood, her suit clanking noisily as she did so. Absently Samus reached over and wiped her drool covered hand on Gin's clean clothes, too engrossed in the incoming report to care who she wiped it on. Gin gagged and Tejed chuckled. He shot her a glare but she pretended not to notice.

"What is it?" he inquired, ignoring the sticky wet spot on his shirt.

"Frigate," Samus muttered, still reading. "Near…Betelgeuse…space pirates. Looks like…A research vessel. Small crew."

Tejed perked up at the mention of pirates, her sorrow having gone. She felt nothing but cold anger but suppressed it for the moment, her eyes brightening back to their intense yellow glow. Her lip curled into a sneer.

"Let me go," she said suddenly. Samus looked surprised but Gin merely look like he saw it coming.

"Oh come on, Tejed," he said tiredly. "You can't just steal Samus' bounty like that. She needs the credi-"

"-Fuck the credits. I'll give you the credits. Let me go."

Samus hesitated before promptly activating her comm. and sending Tejed the coordinates. The hybrid hadn't killed anything in few weeks; she was growing antsy. And maybe she could play around with her insanity, learn some new tricks. At least Samus seemed to understand this, unlike Gin, and with a curt nod Tejed took off, leaving them alone again.

Gin shook his head at the door, perplexed as to Tejed's sudden insistence to leave.

"What's with her?" he wondered aloud. Samus finished with her comm. device and looked up at the hunter, smirking slightly.

"You mean you don't understand?"

Gin shook his head, confused, eliciting a light chuckle from Samus. She gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, unsure if he could understand the one thing that both she and the hybrid shared.

"It's a revenge thing," she said simply. Gin kind of understood; after all he had his own demons to avenge with the Federation. What he couldn't grasp was Tejed's almost single-minded intensity when it came to pirates, and the many ways to kill them. He knew where it came from, and what fuelled it, he just didn't understand it.

Sighing he turned his attention back to the wet spot on his shirt. It had dried somewhat, becoming less wet and more sticky, like a piece of candy if it were left in the sun too long. He scowled.

"Tejed drool," he muttered absently, in that over the top accent he had used weeks ago. "Can easily double as an industrial strength bonding agent. Need mortar for bricks? Don't fret; get Tejed to drool on 'em."

Despite herself Samus found herself laughing quietly at his farce again. He was a strange man, she gave him that much, but he did have an unnerving habit of making her laugh. The only other person who had even come close was Adam, and he was long dead.

Gin had blushed when she laughed at him and had turned his attention back to the sticky spot. It simply refused to leave the comforting confines of his shirt, much to his chagrin. He looked downcast.

"That's an expensive looking shirt," said Samus suddenly, noting his apparent distress over the spot of slowly drying drool. Smoothly she sat where Tejed had been sitting, with all the appearance of a curious feline.

"It was," replied Gin irritably.

"How much was it?"

"Eh. A couple thousand credits," he replied offhandedly. Samus instantly cocked an eyebrow.

"And what," she said smoothly, easily. "Would a lowly bounty hunter like you be doing with a couple thousand credits? To spend on _clothes_?"

Gin looked for all the world like some huge secret had been blow. He stopped his persistent picking at the drool spot and didn't say anything, just stared blankly at Samus. She smirked.

"What was your last name again, Vaughn?"

"…Masters…" he said quietly.

"Say that again?"

"Masters," he said again, but louder. He sounded somewhat angry, as though he hated his last name. Samus couldn't figure out why.

"You're not…_That_ kind of Masters…?"

"Yes," he replied as he sat, ignoring the drool spot. "I'm the filthy rich kind."

Sighing he leaned forwards, his face in his hands. This was an interesting turn of events, mused Samus. Not only was the…How had Tejed so eloquently put it? Crazy Aussie? Not only was he a damned good bounty hunter with skills to match, apparently he was also a member of one of the richest families on Earth. Huh. How 'bout that?

"And does Tejed…?"

"Tejed doesn't know anything," he said quickly, not bothering to look up from his hands. "Hell, I wasn't even going to tell you, but here I am."

Unfortunately Samus understood all too well why he would make something as trivial as his last name a secret. The Masters family, the ones who supplied the Federation with a lot of its best weapons and technology, were one of, if not the, richest family on Earth. They could thank their production of top quality weapons for that. The Federation paid very handsomely indeed to ensure that their weapons came to them and them only.

But understanding why he hid it and why he seemingly hated it were two entirely different things. In a manner all too similar to Tejed she cocked her head lightly to the side.

"Why do you hate who you are?"

Gin was silent for a moment. She had almost thought he wasn't going to say anything to her ever again when he spoke up, finally looking up from his hands.

"My parents abused their wealth," he started with a sigh. "All they could ever think about was 'let's buy that', 'let's buy this', and 'we totally have enough money to buy these things'. It didn't matter if they needed it or not, if it could be bought it was theirs. Always looking out for nobody but themselves, intent on spending every waking moment, and every available credit, on themselves. It's like they lived in some world where they expected everyone to lay down red carpets for them."

He sighed again and absently ruffled a hand through his hair.

"They didn't even look after me and Vincent. That was the servants' job. I don't doubt that they didn't love us, not for a second, they just believed rearing children was best left to the 'inferiors'. They wouldn't sully their nice clean hands with us, oh no. Hell, more than three quarters of my childhood was spent out in the outback with Vince, exploring and getting dirty and doing the exact _opposite_ of what rich kids do…"

Samus was staring intently at him. He trailed off and stopped talking, suddenly extremely self conscious. These were the kinds of things he shared with Vince, not Samus. Not anyone. He shouldn't even be talking.

"Don't stop," said Samus gently. "Keep going."

"Well…" It took him a moment to find his voice again. "I can tell you for a fact high school wasn't easy, especially when you have such a…_rich_ heritage. When my parents decided that Australia was too bland they moved here, on a whim, no less. Everyone I ever met did nothing but use me for my money. It was a nightmare. We went from nice quiet outback explorations to loud obnoxious city life, where everyone cared about themselves and themselves only. It was like…it was like my parents, only it was everyone, and it was ten thousand times worse."

Samus was starting to understand. Gin continued undaunted. Apparently now that he was finally letting it all out after who knows how many years it wasn't easy to turn off the tap. The hunter patiently listened. The rant was good for him.

"I was one of the _popular_ kids in school. Gee, I wonder why." He scoffed at the old memories. "If anyone wanted anything you know what they said? Go to Vaughn, he'll help ya, he's got the money. Every single god forsaken person in my school just had to be friends with me, even though I was friends with _none of them_. But they couldn't take no for an answer. Oh no. If I even dared to say no to even one person I was labelled as a cheap bastard who wants it all to himself. Bunch of teenage idiots."

He trailed off again. He looked angry and sad at the same time, as if being reminded of who he was had opened up old wounds. Samus opened her mouth to say something but he started up again.

"In that entire school, there was only one person who ever saw me as more than just 'that filthy rich kid'. After I graduated and left that hell-hole for the last time, I never saw her again. She was always too shy to talk to me directly, and I'm not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. She sent me a letter, when I was with the Federation, but I could never reply to it. They watched _every singly thing _that came in, and _every single thing _that went out. Like hawks, they were. They were intent on keeping me to themselves. I don't blame them, I am too good with machines for my own good. I just wish I could have replied to that letter, let her know I'm still alive…And that I remember her…"

"Do you remember her name?"

"Not a clue. I think it started with a 'T', and she had a sister, but that's it."

Letting out a long drawn out breath, Gin stood and stretched, his ribs cracking quietly. He flinched slightly, but by the looks of it they no longer hurt as they did before. The drool had dried to an off coloured yellowish stain, and he glared at it. So much for keeping his nice clean clothes, well, nice and clean. Samus chuckled again.

"It's just a shirt, Gin," she remarked dryly, with a touch of humour. He looked up at her. "You have more than enough money to buy a new one."

He rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself.

"Yes," he said shyly. "I guess I do."

Samus smirked again, amused by his reactions. Of all the people she had ever talken to, it seemed at though Gin was the only one, Adam not included, that saw her as an actual person and not some scary bounty hunter or, even worse, a sex object. In some ways she had lost her humanity just like Tejed had. It was a refreshing change talking to someone like Gin. It reminded her of who she was.

Without warning Gin's comm. device started beeping incessantly and with a sigh he dug through his pockets and answered it. Samus looked at him curiously, watching his expression change from confusion to utter disbelief.

"It's…for you," he muttered as he handed her the device. Samus took it and frowned as she looked at its viewscreen.

"Tejed?" she inquired. The hybrid looked dishevelled and angry. Her pistol wound had opened again and was leaking green blood down her face. "It's only been thirty minutes, what's wrong?"

"About how many individuals would you say compromises a 'small crew'?"

Samus shrugged.

"About a couple hundred thousand. Why?"

Tejed glared at her, her eyes simmering with rage. Her right eye twitched.

"I need help," was her curt reply. A pirate ran at her from behind, prompting Tejed to slice its face in half with her scythes. Its blood splattered all over her end of the viewscreen and her face, mingling with her own blood before dripping off her chin in a viscous glop. Samus had never seen her look so feral before. It was almost disconcerting.

"They're _everywhere_. They're like some sort of hideous insect invasion. I _don't know where they keep coming from."_ She whispered the last part harshly, face contorting in fury. Samus could hear the off kilter wailing of the pirates in the background. Evidently when Tejed had decided to crash their party they were none too pleased about it. And neither was Tejed.

"Even someone as inherently insane as me can't fight off these _hordes,_" she rasped. "Get over here and _help me._"

She had raised her hand and curled her fingers for emphasis, all the while glaring balefully at the Hunter. All Samus could do was nod in agreement and terminate the connection. The last thing she wanted was a dead Tejed on her hands; although at this point she was seriously starting to consider that it was next to impossible to kill her.

"Looks like I'll be going on that bounty anyway."

"I'm coming, too," piped up Gin. Samus smirked at him. She had been curious how he played out his bounties. Now was as good a chance as any to see.

"If that's the case then off to the command room with you. I have no idea how to fly your ship."

Without missing a beat Gin took off towards the main command room. Samus dallied for a moment before heading towards the cargo bays, and the orange suit that was situated there. The ship shuddered before taking off, Samus' stomach doing a single lurch before it adjusted to the new forces.

"So uh, Samus." Gin's voice crackled out over the intercom. Samus continued on her way to her suit. "How exactly does 'a couple hundred thousand' translate into 'small crew', anyhow?"

Chuckling Samus passed through the bay doors. Her suit stood at the end of the bay, situated neatly between a couple sleek looking fighters.

"When you've been in the business as long as I have, a couple hundred thousand is pretty small compared to a couple million billion."

Thoughtful silence. Carefully Samus approached her suit and ran a hand over its smooth organic surface.

"Ah. I see."

As if it had sensed her presence, the suit opened in the front, parted almost like water to allow her entrance. It always did manage to unnerve her, but it was her suit, and she wasn't complaining. Gently she sidled up to it. It closed around her almost like a second skin and she flexed her arm. It always did feel good to be back in suit again. Smiling under her visor she left the bay and headed towards the command room.

There was nothing quite like a raid on a pirate ship to get her blood pumping again.

* * *

"You fuckers! Every single one of you! I can take you all with a _hand tied behind my back!" _

Of course, she couldn't. There were far too many for Tejed to take down, but she was having a good time yelling and swearing at them before Samus came. The only downside to her constant cat-calls was the fact that she also screamed them in space pirate, which did nothing but infuriate the creatures even more.

"You don't like that eh?" she screamed, narrowly avoiding a volley of laser fire. "If it's any consolation I don't like you either! Half the time I just want to bite off your weasly little faces and watch you squirm in agony!"

The voice was having a field day with her anger and more then three times now it had tried to take over, only to fail each and every time. Evidently Samus' suggestions were working, at least in part. Just ignore the voice and it has no power. Not to say Tejed's anger wasn't easy to control; on more than one occasion she almost gave in; but she did well enough a job keeping it in check.

Snarling she turned tail as the pirates' ranks ever so slowly grew, not wanting to get caught up in their slowly growing masses. She _could_ enter Berserker if she so wanted to, but she was scared and hesitant. She didn't want to lose control again, especially when the only person she had ever called friend was so close to coming.

Instead she ran straight at the far wall, dug her claws in, and proceeded to climb up its steep face and away from the space pirates below, leaving a trail of gouges behind her. They shrieked in frustration as she got to the girders far above. Sneering she settled down and watched as they ran around in a frenzy, some of them breaking off and ducking into doors in a vain attempt to get to her. Laser fire flew all around but none of it managed to hit her.

"Shit faced bastards," she mocked angrily. They almost looked like someone had disturbed an ant hill, the way they milled and ran every which way. Grinning sadistically she aimed her shoulder cannon and fired. The ground exploded far below, spent pirate bodies flying everywhere. It made her happy. She aimed again.

"I wonder if…"

She fired again, this time trying with less force. The resulting blast was considerably smaller and more precise, only killing a handful of pirates. She grinned and took aim for a third time, this time zeroing in on specific individuals.

"My my, you filthy little thing," she commented, the cannon centering on a pirate's arm. "That arm looks diseased. I don't think you need it anymore…"

She fired again. The shot was small and almost insignificant, if not for the fact that it blew the pirates arm right off. He screamed in confused pain and fell to the floor, only to get trampled by his comrades. They responded with a new volley of laser fire, all of which missed her. A few exploded against the girder she was sitting on but didn't harm her. Grinning Tejed aimed again.

"And you, with your revolting excuse for a face. How do even manage to look at yourself without puking in disgust?"

The pirate in question looked up at her before she fired, its face seemingly exploding in a cloud of blood and bone. Tejed was having too much fun doing something so utterly morbid. Who knew such an overpowered weapon could be such an effective sniping device? Grinning she absently let it sweep over the pirates, resting for a moment on a line of tanks against the far wall. She cocked an eyebrow, picking out the 'explosive' warning scrawled on the side. Briefly she wondered what was in them.

The pirates near one of the back doors were milling in a more confused nature. Tejed frowned and watched them, unsure what was going on. A few blasts rang out and they immediately fell. Tejed perked up happily. Was Samus…?

The Hunter in question came though, cannon blazing, cutting a swathe through their numbers. The pirates looked stunned and for a moment were utterly confused. They broke out in a disorganized mess and took off, not eager to fight both the Hunter and TransFuse in the same day. But apparently Samus wasn't alone. Behind her came another hunter, one who simply refused to wear his helmet and carried a glowing katana.

"Gin," she breathed, low and sultry. What the hell was he doing here? The last thing she needed was an obnoxious Australian backstabber on her side. She decided to stay up in the girders, see what would happen. One of the thick beams groaned slightly under her weight but she ignored it.

The pirates had more or less gone, all of them either dead or too cowardly to stay and fight. Samus and Gin had stopped in the center of the room and were talking. Tejed strained to hear, catching muttered snippets of their conversation. Something about her, she gathered. They didn't know where she was. Absently Tejed centered her cannon on Gin's head and sneered. They had switched from her whereabouts to Gin's fancy sword. Tejed didn't really care.

"_Look how easy it would be to strike him where he stands. A single contraction of a neuron, and he's dead. Send out the thought, Ms. Jenal, fire the weapon, kill him, like you did with countless pirates…"_

The hard sneer left her face and she diverted the cannon back to its default position: sidled up to her back and aimed harmlessly at the ceiling. The girder let out a sudden whine and buckled, filling the air with a hard mechanical shriek. Tejed lurched to the side but managed to keep her footing. Far below the two hunters instantly looked up, catching sight of her eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Tejed!" she called, waving. Tejed sighed from her perch in the girders and promptly jumped down, not wanting to be up there when the damn thing finally gave in and snapped. She hit the ground with a loud crack, legs acting like shock absorbers. There was a cloud of dust as she straightened, the thick steel floor bent and misshapen from the impact.

"Fancy entrance there, Tejed," remarked Gin casually. She merely glared at him and shaking his head he looked away, his attention going back to his katana.

Now that Tejed saw it up close, she had to admit it was a beautiful weapon. A line of glyphs down the center of the blade glowed a steady blue, fuelled by an unknown source. It seemed as though the blade itself was electrically charged, blue bolts dancing along its length. Gin caught her eyeing it and smiled.

"Apparently they're chozo glyphs," he said good-naturedly, seemingly proud of his weapon. "Samus was just telling me about them before we found you."

Tejed merely grunted in response, not willing to reveal that she was actually interested in it but fond of it all the same. Briefly she wondered how it would feel to wield it, to cut through enemies with its charged blade. Most likely quite satisfying.

For a moment she felt a pang of longing. Gin's weapons were beautiful: he had a beautiful staff, a beautiful sword, and a very elegant fighting style. All Tejed had were weapons created without thought to looks, only function. And her fighting style was less than gossamer, comprised of brute force and rage. Just once, she mused, she wanted something fancy, something beautiful. Something that only she could wield and that she could wield with grace. Something like Gin's sword.

Hell, she just wanted Gin's sword.

"Let me see it," said Samus suddenly. Gin was hesitant.

"I don't know if you should handle it, it tends to shock everyone except for me."

Samus merely held her hand out expectantly, and with a sigh Gin handed it over. She grasped the blade firmly by the handle, experiencing no sudden shock or pain. Intently she studied the glyphs. Gin was bewildered.

"But…When…If anyone…" he stuttered. Satisfied Samus gave it back and said nothing. Gin scratched his head in confusion and glanced up at the Tejed standing there impatiently, a shrewd look on his face.

"Here, Tejed, you hold it."

Tejed just wanted to get out of here already and indulge in some real killing. She could here scurrying and scratching at the very edge of her hearing; it was only a matter of time before the pirates came back with double the force. And if holding Gin's overly pretty sword would get them out faster then she was all for it.

Without hesitation she grabbed the sword by the blade. A savage shock was sent through her body, the same electric blue that covered the blade now dancing over her suit. She cried out in sudden pain and dropped the weapon. It clattered noisily to the floor. Gin looked satisfied as he bent to retrieve it. Samus just looked intrigued.

"Give me it again," she ordered. He obeyed. Nothing. She wielded it as easily as if she were its master. But that couldn't be. _He_ was its master. It was his sword. By all logic it should shock everyone who so much as touched it.

"Tejed-"

"-NO," she blurted before he could finish. "Like hell if I'm going to touch your fancy knife again." One electrocution was enough for Tejed. She held her hand to her chest, as if terrified it would get shocked again.

"Odd…" muttered Gin as Samus handed it back. Tejed just glared at him and his katana.

"Filthy piece of bastard metal," she clicked in space pirate, rubbing her hand scornfully. Gin suddenly looked up, his expression looking somewhat hurt.

"What was that?"

"…Nothing."

The room was deceptively quiet. Whatever the space pirates were up to, they were probably amassing some god forsaken army with the sole intent of crushing them all. Tejed didn't like it. She could hear them, smell them, but couldn't pinpoint them. It was like the pirates were there, but at the same time weren't. She growled.

A space pirate appeared in one of the doorways and shot at Tejed with his forearm mounted weapon. The shot hit her square in the back of the head, singing her white hair and sending her stumbling forwards with a guttural cry. Angrily she whipped around to face him, her head throbbing from the shot. When she caught sight of him she snarled.

"You'll be the first to die, you piece of scum!" she yelled. Without even stopping to think she aimed her cannon and fired. The pirate exploded on the spot, his headless corpse falling to the ground. It was like a tap had been turned. With the death of the one pirate the whole army came shrieking in. Gin patted her on the shoulder.

"Good job, Tejed. You single-handedly managed to evoke their entire wrath on us."

Tejed ignored him and readied her stance, scythes unsheathing in preparation for the battle. Beside her Gin readied his electric katana, while Samus had already started shooting them down. The first pirate reached them and Tejed sliced cleanly through it, its blood splattering all over her face. _This_ was what made her feel alive, invigorated. The visceral feel of pirates dying by her claws was almost intoxicating. She was in bliss.

Gin wasn't faring as well, and neither was Samus. There were simply too many pirates to handle. Tejed had not been kidding when she said they were coming from everywhere. They came out of door, out of vents, out of hatches. For every one pirate they killed two more took its place, and considering the massive amount of pirates flooding in, the math was slowly staring to add up.

A pirate had rounded on Gin as he killed another, its single forearm mounted scythe making a clean sweep for his head. He did not seem to notice. Without thinking Tejed dashed towards it and clamped her jaw around its neck, ripping its arteries out with her teeth. It gasped and fell over backwards before drowning in its own blood. Gin looked shaken.

"Th-thanks, Tejed," he managed to breath.

Tejed shuddered from the almost primitive feel of it all, her jaw hanging open sideways and blood dripping from her pointed teeth. She had never killed something with her teeth alone; it made her want to just let go and lay waste without a care in the world. Ignoring the yelling of the voice in her head she retracted her scythes and killed the next pirate with only her claws, tearing one of his lungs straight from his chest.

But it wasn't enough. Even with the combined forces of all three of them there were simply too many pirates. What they needed right now was someone who could dole out the damage without care, someone who could go into a frenzy and still live afterwards.

What they needed was a berserker.

"Tejed!" yelled Gin, noticing her reluctance to let go. "Give in, already! We _need _your insanity!"

Tejed faltered and closed her jaw. She wasn't quite sure if she could pull it off without killing _everyone_. She was scared.

"Just remember who you are!" yelled Samus encouragingly. At that moment a stray laser shot hit the Hunter in the side of the head, almost knocking her unconscious just long enough for a pirate to jump onto her shoulder and take her down. Tejed was instantly angry. How _dare_ they attack the great Samus Aran like that! Had the creatures no respect?

"How dare you!" she screeched, letting the mental failsafe click back. Already she had forgotten who she was, the power simply too much to keep her sane. All she knew was that everything that moved was a potential target, a victim. Prey.

With eyes flaming like the very pirates she killed she triggered her chainsaw, its mechanical revving filling her with animalistic glee. The pirate that had pinned down Samus, and the consecutive pirates that had jumped her in the hopes of killing her once and for all, didn't stand a chance. The chainsaw cut a bloody path through them all, severing their torsos from the rest of their bodies in one ragged red swoop. Too bad twice as many pirates took their places.

The chainsaw was not clean and precise like her scythes, it was the exact opposite. Where one would cut neat slices in things, the other sent bits and pieces of organs flying everywhere in a spray of blood. Where one was silent and deadly, the other was loud and hungry and filled the air with its vicious shriek. Tejed loved every moment of it.

A select few pirates close to her, on realizing what had happened, were all too content to run for their very lives. Tejed would have none of it. They had hurt Samus, so by all logic they were bound to death. And Tejed was their death.

The crushing mob of creatures was too thick for the select few who knew what had happened to run. They had the pleasure of being killed one by one by a chainsaw through the stomach, across the arms, or in their face. All in all they died rather painful deaths. Tejed just laughed at them, their grisly demises hideously funny to her.

Gin paused momentarily to see what had happened with Tejed. Sure enough she had entered Berserker and was laying waste just like he had hoped. There was only one problem. She was advancing on Samus with nothing but murder on her mind. And Gin wasn't quite sure if she could differentiate friend from foe.

"Ah, crap," he muttered. Quickly he dispatched a few pirates and called out to her.

"_TEJED_!"

She stopped in mid swing and looked up at her name. It was almost eerie the way her eyes burned in their deep-set sockets.

"Your name is Tejed! _Tejed!_" he yelled above the ruckus. "We're not the enemy! The pirates are! The _pirates_, Tejed! _They_ did this to you! _THEM!"_

That was all the hybrid needed. Something in the back of her mind clicked and she suddenly realized who she was and what was happening. Though she still saw everything in the faded, sickly shade of red, she had power over herself. She was no longer out of control.

"_My oh my, Ms. Jenal," _the voice mused. It almost sounded respectful._ "I never thought I'd see that day when you actually overcame me. Bravo, my dear hybrid. Bravo…" _

For the first time in her new life as an illegal experiment she was in total control, and total power. It was the single greatest feeling she had ever experienced. Smiling she nodded once back at Gin and continued to cut a swathe through to the fallen Samus, all the while revelling in her destruction yet totally aware of her surroundings. It was even more invigorating then the simple destruction before had been. Despite herself she found that she was laughing maniacally.

Samus had somehow managed to regain her feet when the hybrid reached her, a hand held shakily to the side of her helmet. Her ears still rang from the blast and she was having a hard time deciding which way was which. The crush of pirates all around wasn't helping matters all that much and she was having difficulty staying on her feet.

"Woah there, Samus," came a distinctive Australian voice. A pair of arms caught her before she fell and weakly she looked up, still confused and disoriented from the blast. Gin smiled down at her, exactly one pissed off Tejed keeping the pirates at bay behind him. And she did a damn good job. She had backed them into a corner, which was one of the reasons the pirates couldn't get to them. Getting past a pissed Tejed in Berserker mode was about as easy as sneaking past a roaring train.

"So she managed to control it?" she inquired. Gin nodded and gently set her on her feet again. She stumbled but regained her balance, the ringing fading from her ears, and readied herself for battle.

To say Tejed looked scary as hell was an understatement. Her eyes burned brightly from their deep sockets, face splattered with blood and gore, and she had a hard edge to her features, as though she had lost something crucial. The shrill whine of her chainsaw cut through the air as if it was insanely hungry and it melded a bit too well with her maniacal laughter.

"They're like a match made in heaven," commented Gin dryly, in reference to her chainsaw. Samus reluctantly agreed.

And yet, exactly one Tejed gone berserk was not even enough to stop the unholy waves upon waves of advancing pirates. She was slowly being pushed back by the hordes, and so were Samus and Gin. Despite her crazed state Tejed noticed this as well and roared out in rage.

"God _fucking_ DAMN _IT!_" she spat angrily, her voice warped and deep from her insanity. Gin flinched at it. Glaring angrily she half turned and addressed the speechless hunters.

"You think you two could be a bit more helpful?" she yelled. "Give me some ideas, here! If you haven't quite noticed yet, they're _fucking_ ADVANCING!"

To emphasize her point she mowed down a line of pirates in a shower of gore, only to have twice as many take their place even closer. And even though Tejed had come to the point where she could control herself, she was still as surly and mean as ever, complete with rampant swearing, cold hearted remarks, and unpredictable nature. She was having a hard enough time keeping her bloodlust fixated on the pirates instead of the tasty little morsels cowering behind her.

What they needed now, aside from a berserker, was some sort of weapon with a long, long reach, something that could be swung from a safe vantage point and take the whole pirate horde down, or at least most of it. Something that could slice out their legs from under them and leave them crippled husks.

Gin had just the thing.

Chunks of his suit around his right arm fell away with a quick burst of steam, revealing the mechanical prosthetic underneath. A quick jerk of the arm unlodged a long, thin chain, at the end of which was a rather large heavy looking block. The chain jingled almost musically to the ground, a sound far removed from the sickening chorus of pirate death wails and Tejed's deranged battle screams. The hybrid in question half turned again curiously, ears twitching at the odd sound.

"Well that's…New," commented Samus, a surprised tone in her voice. Gin had taken the chain and started swinging it slowly around, the block at the end gradually growing in speed. As he swung it a pair of laser blades activated from each side, both curved wickedly and facing a different direction. Tejed grinned, showing a row of sickly yellow teeth, and chuckled deep in her throat.

"Looks like the crazy Aussie has some new weapons, eh?" she prodded. "Why the fuck didn't you show us before?"

"The situation never presented itself," he said curtly, the swinging growing faster in tempo. He raised it above his head and glared at Tejed. "Now get down before I accidentally slice your head off."

She promptly complied. Just in time, too. The moment she fell to her knees the blade zipped forwards on its chain, narrowly missing her head and taking a rather large clip out of her ear. She heard a faint swoosh as it flew, followed by the sounds of bones cracking and pirates screaming. She peered up just in time to see Gin give his arm a good backwards yank, sending the deadly projectile in a wide arc and back through the pirates, where it managed to cut a second swathe before coming back to him, where he instantly began swinging it again.

Tejed was impressed. _Greatly_ impressed. Not only did he have a fancy stick, a fancy knife, and a fancy ship, apparently he also had a fancy arm with a _very_ fancy chain manoeuvre. What other fancy things was he hiding from her? Ah well, amid all his _fanciness_, at least she had some things he didn't. Like her raw power. Gin could never have that.

Without hesitation the hunter whipped the blade forwards again, this time at an angle and in such a way that it swung in low and fast. It more or less caught a shit ton of pirates, and the pirates that weren't hit with the blade had a good time getting tangled and decapitated by the chain. Tejed chuckled from the floor, strangely amused by the scene of rampant death.

"See, Tejed? You're not the only one who can clear a room," stated Gin matter-of-factly.

His forehead was covered in beads of sweat as the weapon came back a second time, only to be swung around again. Apparently wielding the thing was much harder than Tejed has initially surmised, but that didn't mean it wasn't effective. Already the room was emptying rapidly.

And there it was, creeping up behind them in the shadows. It never failed. Pirates _always_ managed to find some _convoluted route_ around all the fighting where they could inch up slowly behind their enemies. And it was _always_ one pirate, not a whole horde, not even two, but _one_. One lowly, insignificant subordinate. And to make matters worse it was a _shadow_ pirate. Tejed hated shadow pirates.

"Why is it always _one?_" muttered Tejed exasperatedly. Apparently she was the only one that saw the bastard creature. Samus was busy decimating them one by one with her cannon and Gin…He had a stupid chain to look after.

"Damnit."

The pirates were still advancing. They never stopped advancing. What did it take to get pirates to stop advancing? For a moment Tejed surmised that they spontaneously generated under the floor and came up through the air ducts. It made a lot of sense to her fevered mind. It was just like that old experiment with maggots on a corpse, only instead of maggots it was pirates, and instead of a corpse it was one of their filthy frigates.

But back to the task at hand.

Gin's chain-blade cut down at a sharp angle and ricocheted off the floor with a loud clang. It swooped around and came back, where he started swinging it in preparation for another attack. Samus was right beside him killing the pirates that got too close. It was now or never. Quickly Tejed scampered to her feet and aimed at the shadow pirate with her shoulder cannon. Unfortunately her suit slowed her down considerably and the moment she aimed Gin's chain-blade came around again.

"Get down, Tejed!" he yelled franticly.

He yanked his arm in an effort to divert the blade's trajectory, but wasn't quite fast enough. The chain quickly wrapped its way around Tejed's neck tightly and for a moment she couldn't breathe. She felt something fracture in her neck with a sickening crunch and tried to tear the damn chain off before its blade rebounded off a wall and quickly unwound. Breathing raggedly she fell to her knees and coughed up a handful of blood. Whatever had been crushed in her neck, it hurt. A _lot._

Meanwhile the poor hunter was trying to gain back control of his out of control chain-blade. When he had control over it, it was a formidable weapon. When he didn't…It was a formidable weapon. Currently the damn thing was ricocheting off walls, the ceiling and the floor in an unpredictable manner. There was no telling where it would land next until its kinetic energy was finally exhausted.

"Shit," he muttered. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally slice Samus or Tejed in half. The blade swept through a line of pirates before bouncing back with deadly speed. Gin ducked as it clanked off the wall behind him, severing the shadow pirate's head before it could kill him. And then there were the explosive containers.

"Uh, Gin?" inquired Samus. She merely pointed at the containers and Gin resisted the urge to facepalm right then and there.

"Double shit."

Tejed had just regained her footing when the chain-blade hit. The resulting explosion incinerated every single pirate near it, reducing them all to a pile of dirty pirate coloured ash. The pirates further away were either killed instantly or badly burned. The few that did manage to survive would need immediate medical attention in order to live.

Good thing Tejed had exactly one high tech suit to keep her safe. It knocked the wind out of her lungs and managed to burn the edges of her ears but she was, as Samus had surmised, incredibly hard to kill. Gin and Samus had taken up refuge right behind her, using her as a living shield. There was only one good thing about explosions. They only last for a couple of seconds.

The searing hot wind died down and the room returned to its previous state, if only a little hotter. And without the pirates. Gin should have been ecstatic. Instead he was furious.

"Damnit, Tejed!" he yelled angrily. They hybrid's eyes had gone out and she had a hand held around her throat. "What the bloody hell were you thinking? I told you to stay down, for god's sake! What went through your dense mind at the time that-"

"-Shadow pirate," she croaked out, pointing behind him.

Confused, Gin turned. A dead pirate lay without a head just behind him, its scythes mere inches from his feet. Startled he jumped away. He hadn't even heard the creature sneak up on him.

"Geez," he muttered quietly. "Thanks, Tejed. I didn't even hear it."

It seemed as though Tejed was also having hearing problems. She hadn't heard a word Gin had just muttered, just a single bass mumble. The blast must have knocked out her hearing. The only constant that she did hear was a low ringing, probably a side effect of the explosion. Scowling she smacked the side of her head. No effect.

"I can't hear," she said bluntly, slightly disturbed by the fact that she couldn't even hear her own voice.

Despite himself Gin laughed. All the jokes he made about her ears, and here she was, deaf. It was almost too good to be true. She cocked her head to the side, seeing him laughing but not hearing it.

"She can't hear, Samus!" he yelled excitedly, mind already racing with ways to exploit it. Samus just shook her head at him and started to examine the room.

"I can still hear you when you _yell,_" croaked Tejed irritably. The chain-blade had also managed to wreck her voice, as evidenced by the fact that it was not raucously loud and was instead soft and quiet. She came to the conclusion it had been her voice box she felt being crushed, much to her chagrin.

It only managed to make Gin laugh harder.

"It's like she's on mute!" he said joyfully. Still laughing he started to reel in the chain, the blade somewhere in the carpet of debris and ash that covered the floor. Tejed merely scowled and looked up at the ceiling.

"Could this get any worse?" she inquired, asking whatever higher power was listening at the time. In response time seemed to slow to a standstill and a little voice, different from the usual one, entered her head.

"_Yes, it can get worse." _

"_And it'll get even worse after that," _said another. Tejed was utterly confused.

"Damnit voices! Where the hell do you come from?"

No response. Time started up again and instantly lights instantly cut out, pitching the room into utter blackness save for Tejed's eyes and Samus' visor. The other two hunters didn't seem to notice her slip and she said nothing. Gin stopped reeling in the chain.

"What…Just happened?"

"Explosion knocked out the power grid," replied Samus curtly. She heard the smack of hand to forehead: Gin had facepalmed.

"And how are we going to get out of here when we can't even see?"

"I can see perfectly fine," replied Samus smugly. Gin facepalmed again.

"And what about you, Tejed?"

No answer. He said it again, louder.

"I can see fine, too," she snapped in her curiously hushed voice. Gin facepalmed again.

"Why do I never bring my helmet?" he yelled angrily. Tejed chuckled. She had heard _that._

"Because you're Australian."

"…Damnit, Tejed!"

Without warning a door across the room lit up, revealing a half-lit corridor. As they watched another light came on, followed by another, then another, until the corridor was lit all the way to the end. It was creepy. It was almost as if someone was leading them out. Or into a trap. But what else could they lose at this point?

"After you, Aussie," said Tejed smugly, pushing him toward the lit doorway.

"…I'd smack you if I could see you…" he muttered.

"What?"

"I said your ears are too big and your brain is too small," he retorted. Tejed didn't hear. He snickered and reeled in the last of his chain, snapping the heavy block at the end back into his arm. Now all he needed was to rebuild the arm of his suit.

"Need any help, hunter?" inquired Samus smoothly. Tejed had already started to the doorway, her heavy footfalls hushed by the ash.

"Help _would_ be nice," he replied as Samus offered her hand. Gratefully taking it she led him to the open door, and the rest of the pirate frigate. Despite the fact that it was strictly professional he still felt odd about it. He was holding her hand. _Samus'_ hand The _Hunter's_ hand. It was weird. Suffice it to say Samus felt the same way.

"HEY, YOU TWO _LOVEBIRDS_!" screamed Tejed loudly from the door, extra loud so that she could hear herself. The ship trembled. "QUIT YOUR GOD DAMN DALLYING AND GET THE FUCK OVER HERE! _NOW!"_

Gin could feel his cheeks burning at her remark and facepalmed with his free hand. Instantly the hybrid broke down into a savage coughing fit, the scream a little too much for her crushed voice box.

"Did she say lovebirds?" inquired Samus quietly. He facepalmed for a second time.

"She also yelled…_Loudly. _In a frigate. Full of _space pirates_," he replied with a sigh. Tejed was still waiting impatiently by the door, an angry and pained look on her face, and with another sigh they started towards her.

Now came the _really _fun part. Escape the frigate. In one piece.


	9. Chapter 9

_Start Lore_

_We've seen it coming for a long time. Even the lesser peoples can see it, the ones that choose to look. They were always at each others throats, the Young and the Dark ones. Why they chose to side with each other is beyond us at this point, though it most likely has to do with petty things like money and power. They are like two great figureheads shaking each other's hands, while they clutch weapons behind their backs and smile at each other. Deceiving smiles, each seeing the good in their own actions, with their only goal to destroy the other. Such convoluted games they play. As is it will end only in sorrow. _

_End Lore

* * *

_

"Seriously, Tejed. If you were ever stranded in the middle of the ocean on a ship with no sails, you have no need to worry. All you'd have to do if face the wind and let your ears catch it."

No response. Samus and Gin walked side by side behind the hybrid. Her ears twitched but she made no inclination of having heard; her hearing was still gone.

"And if you ever get lost in the woods and need warmth?" he continued, undaunted. "Your ears are like their own little contained ecosystem. Just wrap 'em around yourself and you're good to go."

Samus elbowed him in the side, growing annoyed by his constant stabs at the hybrid. He winced and gave her a hurt look. His ribs may have healed but they were still sensitive.

"Just because Tejed has gone deaf doesn't mean I have, too," she said curtly. She looked back at Tejed and shook her head.

"Why are you insulting her so much, anyhow? I thought you liked her. I thought you wanted to help her."

"I do," replied Gin with a hurt tone. "But she's always insulting me in one way or another. I'm just getting payback."

Samus didn't say anything and continued walking. The hallway, though brightly lit by emergency backup lights, was dull and dreary. The same rusted walls repeated every few steps, and the same old doors popped up every few meters. It was, for lack of a better term, like walking through an old cartoon where the background was stuck on loop. It was growing annoying.

"I find it hard to believe that she's _always_ insulting you."

"You haven't been around her for as long as I have," scoffed the hunter. "Almost every time I meet her, only a few minutes in it's 'crazy Aussie' this, and 'obnoxiously happy' that. I'm just happy she doesn't know I'm a Masters. The rich jokes? Oh god."

He shuddered at the thought. Tejed's ear twitched again and she sort of half turned.

"What did I hear about masturb-"

"-No! Stop!" cried Gin, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. Tejed smirked and turned back to the front, chuckling to herself. Her hearing was ever so slowly starting to come back. It was still stricken with staticy background noise, but she could make out a few words. Or..._kind_ of make out a few words.

Samus smiled underneath her helmet, amused by Gin's reaction. For someone with such a rich heritage, he seemed like a normal person, not even close to the snobby, stuck up Masters' that she had met on the job. Hell, she was still kind of dubious that he was telling the truth in the first place, but he didn't seem like the type to lie. And the story he had come up with seemed solid enough.

The hunter looked horrified by what Tejed had even contemplated hearing, let alone voicing. He spluttered before finding his voice.

"When the hell did you get your hearing back?"

"…What about Samus having a big rack?"

"Jesus Christ, Tejed!"

Gin's horror had grown into a full blown panic and he resisted the urge to tackle the hybrid right then and there. Instead he turned to Samus and started to apologize profusely.

"Oh god, Samus. I'm so sorry. I never thought tha-"

"-Calm down, hunter," said Samus gently. She put a hand on his shoulder. "She's just doing it to get under your skin. Ignore her."

"No. No, I think she's actually mishearing these things."

"That's also a possibility," agreed Samus. "Tejed always was very…Blunt. Something tells me she really doesn't care about humiliation or hurt feelings."

Gin just rolled his eyes and continued down the hallway.

"Nooo, you think?"

Tejed just snickered at their conversation, or what she caught out of it. She wasn't even going to _say_ what she misheard 'blunt' as.

"What are you snickering at?" accused Gin loudly. Tejed put up her arms in surrender and shrugged.

"Just ignore me," she rasped with a chuckle. "I won't say anything else. I don't even exist."

Nobody said anything else and they continued walking in silence. By now the dreary monotonous walls had given way to a cleaner environment, though it was still relatively dirty. The power still seemed to be off in the rest of the ship, as evidenced by the fact that all the rooms they looked into were black as pitch. Samus had to wonder exactly two things: Where were all the pirates, and where the hell were they headed. At this point in time her sense of direction was so screwed she had no idea if they were nearing an exit or just going deeper.

Ten more minutes passed in silence, ten minutes wherein Gin slowly calmed back down and decided that he didn't hate Tejed for mishearing horrible things. He just greatly disliked her for it.

"Obnoxious hybrid," he said quietly. "With your freakish mechanical legs. You'd fit right in in Australia."

No response. Samus ignored him. She sensed another insult spree coming up. She was right.

"And all the phazon your body produces?" he continued. "It's not that it produces too much, it's that it's trying to get away from you. You're too insane for even phazon to feel comfortable."

Samus shook her head. Tejed's ears quivered slightly but she didn't say anything. Undaunted Gin continued.

"I'm surprised you haven't tripped over your own antennae yet and met the floor with your face. Not that you'd get hurt, of course. You'd just shatter the concrete, that or leave a nice Tejed shaped imprint in the floor."

"Why did you forego the life of luxury?" asked Samus suddenly. She was growing weary of hearing his constant insults again. That and she was curious. Gin didn't say anything for a moment, merely glared at Tejed's back.

"She can't hear you if you don't yell," said Samus curtly. Gin sighed.

"I didn't want to end up like my relatives."

"And why did you decide to be a bounty hunter? For the Federation? After they experimented on you?"

Gin waved a hand in the air, trying to find the right word for it. For a brief second his normally bright blue eyes dulled down, but it only lasted a second. Samus dismissed it as a trick of the light.

"…Redemption," he finally said. "I did a lot of crap for them, killed a lot of innocents. I want to make up for my mistakes."

"…Kind of like when you decided to help Tejed? Despite the fact that she's…Not exactly easy to talk with?"

"…Yeah," said Gin slowly, finally realizing why he had gotten to know her months ago. "Kind of like that."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes. The frigate, or at least the lit parts, was still disconcertingly pirate free, and the hallway still seemed to just go on forever. At least now it wasn't so bland. A few signs littered the walls, written in pirate glyphs and glowing eerily in the emergency lights. Samus was starting to think they had killed all the pirates in that explosion.

"Are you really a Masters?" blurted Samus. Tejed half turned but kept walking.

"Why would I lie about something like that?" questioned Gin. Samus shrugged.

"I've met a lot of people in my time, Vaughn," she sighed. "A lot of them start out just like you, only to end exactly the opposite."

Gin didn't say anything and Samus didn't pursue the matter. It wasn't that Samus didn't trust him, she had just seen too much to believe there was any good left in the human race. Unexpectedly she remembered an old, old conversation, one that had taken place on a derelict space vessel with her one and only true friend.

_"Do not worry. One of them will understand. One of them must." _

A final reflection. It had been Adam, her old commanding officer, mind transferred to a computer. Oh, how she missed him at times, the weight of his last words hanging on to her mind even though he had long since died.

_"We are all bound by our experiences," _Samus had gone on to say_. "They are the limits of our consciousness. But in the end, the human soul will ever reach for the truth…This is what Adam taught me."_

Absently Samus nodded at the old memory. Was Gin the one? Did he understand, or was it merely just a façade? Either way, his good nature was like a splash of cold water and she was having a hard time getting used to it, though she did enjoy it greatly.

Tejed suddenly stopped, the two hunters walking right into her back.

"Door," she said bluntly. Her voice was starting to take on its old husky tones, though it would still be a while before her crushed voice box healed completely. Grumbling Gin peered around her. Sure enough a huge door blocked their way, a door with a complex locking mechanism and heavy steel blast shield. Tejed stared at it impassively as Gin started to fiddle with the mechanism.

The blast shield looked like it had just been polished, that or next to no one actually used this door, let alone knew it even existed. For a brief second Tejed caught her reflection and jumped slightly, still not used to the monstrosity she had become. Calming down she looked around. Samus was watching Gin and Gin…He was busy fooling with a terminal. Tejed glared at her reflection and growled. It just sneered right back. She quickly turned back to Gin.

"…I could always kick it down," she stated bluntly, noticing the door's refusal to budge. Anything to get her away from her reflection quicker.

"Oh hell, no!" yelled Gin, suddenly distraught at her suggestion. "The _last_ thing we need right now is an alarm."

"But I like alarms…"

He ignored her and fiddled some more, finally managing to access the terminal beside the door despite his abysmal skills at hacking. He managed to enter the door's systems, and overall had a good feeling about this, before stumbling upon a tiny little roadblock. To open, the door required a simple answer to an equally simple equation. Gin stared at it, dumbfounded.

Samus leaned in curiously and almost started laughing.

"What the hell is so funny?" inquired Tejed irritably. This was taking too long and she was getting angry. Gin just pointed to the terminal's viewscreen and she peered at it. It displayed something so abysmally simple that even her thick skull could process it: 2 + 2 = ? Tejed snorted.

"They call that advanced technology?"

"It would seem so," replied Gin jovially. He proceeded to punch in the answer and Tejed retreated, happy that this was going along so smoothly. Hopefully beyond the door yielded her ship. And Gin's too. Maybe Samus'. Mostly though, she just wanted her ship. Screw the Jarvis aboard, she just wanted to climb on board, set in a course, and go to sleep. Sleep was nice.

Gin's agonized cries reached her ears, followed by the smell of burnt flesh. Her head whipped over and her eyes widened like a cat's. Curious she tilted her head to the side.

"What happened?"

Gin shook from head to toe, the terminal sparking slightly. His eye twitched.

"It-it-it shocked me," he stuttered, the jolt momentarily messing with his ability to speak. "I inputted the co-co-correct response and it-it-it shocked me."

Tejed instantly laughed at him. Growling Gin tried it again, with the exact same result. Tejed winced but continued to laugh, his pain like some hilarious joke. Samus just stood off to the side and watched him do it again. She shook her head. He may have been good natured but he was as stubborn as a mule. Or Tejed. Either way he was stubborn.

"Why isn't it wo-wo-working?" Gin yelled in frustration. Tejed rolled her eyes and pushed past him before he could shock himself for a fourth time.

"Oh come on, Tejed," the hunter scoffed, rolling his eyes in the process. The jolt had stopped running through his system. "If I couldn't get their 'super advanced encryption', then something tells me you won't, either."

"What did you enter, anyway?"

"Why, you think you can do better, Ms. _Crazy_?" He watched as Tejed ignored him and inspected the terminal diligently. Rolling his eyes he approached her.

"Four. I put in four."

"Pfft, four?" retorted the hybrid. "What are you, stupid?"

"No, I'm a Masters," he retorted quietly, hurt by her remark. Tejed grinned and peered down at him. Her sickly yellowed teeth made her look like some sort of hungry predator.

"Oh, so you're a Masters, eh?"

It took a moment for Gin to realize what she had said, at which time he gaped like a stranded fish in an effort to find his words. When he did he stuttered for a few more seconds, both from the repeated shocks and his surprise.

"…Wh-when did you get your hearing back?"

"About thirty minutes ago," she replied with that same grin. "What was that you said about my antennae, again? My face colliding with the floor? I like the way you worded that, all in all it was very _eloquent_."

Gin's dumbfounded look made her chuckle sadistically, and still grinning at him she punched in her own set of numbers: twenty two. There was no shock, no hesitation. Smoothly the door slid open, revealing the brightly lit room within. Gin looked like he had suffered a brain tumour.

"But…if…what…who…" he stuttered. He sounded like a tape player stuck in repeat.

"It's alright, _Vaughn_," comforted Tejed, a clawed hand on his shoulder. Unconsciously it tightened and her grin faded into a scowl. "I don't expect you to understand that kind of math, anyhow. You have to be _insane_ to get it."

The situation was no longer humorous, and angrily Tejed entered the room. There was no ship here and she spat on the ground. It looked as if they'd be here for longer than originally surmised. Now grumbling a low stream of curses Tejed turned back to the door. Gin hesitated by the entrance, his eyes briefly flashing red. Tejed blinked and frowned but the effect had passed. Trick of the light.

"What are you waiting for, Gin?" she seethed. "Get in here already, before my phazon decides I'm too scary to be with and goes after _you_."

"Just shut up already, Tejed," he snapped irritably. Tejed was momentarily surprised, before her angry frown turned into a sadistic looking grin.

"Oh, the Aussie's grown a spine, eh?" she hissed. "Maybe he can use it for something more productive then _insulting_ _me on a continuous basis."_

Ignoring her for a moment, Gin hesitantly entered the room, Samus close behind. He didn't like it, at all. The whole setup reeked of horrible trap to him. Maybe all the pirates had run here, just so they could get them in a confined space. Did that mean they were learning? They had realized attacking them in an open space was fruitless? Did pirates…somehow harbour a _shred_ of intelligence?

Samus didn't really like it, either, but there was no where else to go. Cautiously she readied her cannon. Tejed had already impatiently approached a door on the other side of the deceivingly small room and was busy playing with its terminal, as well.

"I'm just getting payback for all the times you've insulted me," retorted the hunter. He stood in the middle of the room watching the hybrid get angrier and angrier with the stubborn door. "I call it fair trade!"

Something snapped and Tejed flinched, her back shuddering. Growling she glared back at him. What remained of the door controls hung limply from her tightly clutched claw.

"I call it being an obnoxious Australian ass," she snapped angrily, throwing the broken machinery to the ground. "Now get your genius computer brain over here and open the fucking door before I _lose it_."

Gin just facepalmed and approached her with a sigh. The only way out of this dinky little excuse for a room, and in her simmering resentment Tejed had broken the control system. It was unsalvageable. The only way through now was with nothing short of brute force. Gin leaned heavily on what remained of the terminal and sighed. Tejed just scowled at him.

"The door's not opening," she remarked dryly. Gin glared up at her.

"That's because it's broken," he retorted.

"Well fix it."

"I can't"

"Do it _anyway_."

He opened his mouth to retort when he noticed her hand on the console. It was trembling almost violently, the steel underneath shuddering from the strain. It now struck him how angry she was, and how hard it was for her to keep herself restrained. The only thing that eluded him was why. Why was she so angry all the time, and how could he help, even if it was only a small bit?

Samus watched, as always, from afar. She much more preferred to be alone and distant, as opposed to being right up there with them. Plus she had the added advantage of watching the scene unfold one second at a time. In some strange way it was almost like a play, and if she decided to interject and change it, then so she would. But for now it was stand back and watch time.

"…Why are you so angry?" asked Gin quietly, confused as to her temperament. Tejed seemed to notice that he was watching her hand and quickly snatched it away, holding it to quell the tremors. It didn't work.

"I don't know," she whispered back, teeth gritting together.

"At least let me help," said Gin gently. He laid a hand on her arm, smiling as he did so. For a second Tejed calmed and the trembling stopped. She was almost happy, no longer angry. Then that blasted voice, which had not said a peep for more than an hour, had to rear its ugly head and start screaming at her. It was, as Tejed had found out months ago, insanely good at ruining her moods. No pun intended.

"Don't fucking touch me and _open the door_," she rasped, angry again. Her hand started up its trembling. Gin instantly looked confused and hurt.

"But the door is broken!"

"Then _unbreak it."_

"My god, Tejed, you're impossible!" he yelled. He threw his arms up in exasperation, his eyes slowly darkening from their normal blue to a dark turquoise. "Why don't _you_ unbreak it? Why don't _you_ at least try to open it without breaking the terminal? Why don't _you_ do something yourself for once instead of asking me, and then when I try to help, you spit it back in my face! You broke the damn thing, Tejed, so you fix it! Like the filthy pirate monstrosity you are!"

Whereas Gin's eyes were well on their way to taking on the dark magenta hue they had been when he was bedridden, Tejed's eyes had taken the complete opposite route and were threatening to catch fire, flaring up like a pair of old oil lanterns. She growled and looked at the door.

"I'll fucking unbreak it!" she yelled. "Just give me the word and there'll be no more door!"

"Then do it already! What are you waiting for?"

"I don't know!" she yelled back. "What _am_ I waiting for?" She took aim with one of her feet and was about to kick the damn thing in when Samus finally decided now was a good time to interject.

"Stop, both of you," she said quietly with a shake of her head. Tejed stopped in mid kick and Gin lowered his arms. It was almost like watching two children fight over something completely pointless, she mused. She approached Tejed and laid a hand on her arm, instantly calming the enraged hybrid. Tejed did not snap at her like she had at Gin.

"Tejed, take deep breaths and calm down," she instructed gently, as if talking to a child. "The last thing we need is you getting angry." Tejed complied, her eyes settling back to their dull shine. Satisfied that she had solved half the problem she turned to Gin instead.

"And you, stop instigating and leave her alone," she said with more force. "The last thing we need is Tejed getting angry."

"…Fine…" he muttered back. He sounded dejected and Samus rolled her eyes underneath her visor. They may have both been adults, but they sure didn't act like it at times. Especially Tejed. Insane or not the hybrid had some serious issues that needed addressing, like her anger, for one. Speaking of which, Tejed had approached them and was looking particularly sad again.

"Seriously, the door's broken," she said gently. "The only way through is to kick it down."

"Resort to violence, why don't you?" muttered Gin angrily.

"What was that?" inquired Tejed, the anger creeping back into her voice.

"I said you're a fucking _rage Nazi_," he retorted quietly. For a moment Tejed was completely taken aback, both at Gin's anger and the fact that he had actually swore. Swearing was reserved for Tejed and Tejed only, not for fancy Aussies.

She bit her tongue and didn't say anything for a moment, enraged by his offhand remark. Even though tearing him limb from limb seemed like a really good idea in this situation, she decided that Samus probably wouldn't be all that pleased. That and she _did_ like Gin. Except for right now. Now he was just being an ass. So she decided to approach this like a calm, or at least semi-calm, person.

"Say that again, you filthy rich bastard," sneered the hybrid. Samus shook her head again, amazed by how fast they could degenerate into petty squabbling.

"You're a rage Nazi, you hear me? A _rage Nazi_. And to top it off your ears are _huge_."

Instantly saddened by his remark Tejed pulled her ears down and didn't say anything. Even the voice seemed in a state of shock, judging by its sudden silence. It stuttered a bit before finally speaking.

"_Did…Did he just call us…A _rage Nazi_…?"_

Tejed didn't respond, and for once the voice seemed alright with that.

"Don't even pull the shy act, Tejed," spat the hunter, glaring at her. She was no longer angry, just hurt. Now she knew how Gin felt when _she_ made fun of _him._ Did that mean she would let up on her badgering? Hell no. It meant she would attack again with double the force. When she was no longer hurt, of course.

Gin on the other hand had suffered some severe déjà vu when he saw her shying away, hands clutching her ears. It was almost like…No. No, it couldn't be _her_, could it? The memory slowly came back, rusty from time but still there.

_She wrapped her fingers tightly around her dark reddish brown hair and pulled it down beside her face, shying away from him. Vaughn was just confused. All he had done was say hi, not scream at her or say something embarrassing. _

"_What's wrong?" he asked stupidly, not knowing what else to say. She didn't respond. _

_Sighing he decided to just leave. As mush as he wanted to talk to her, she was just too shy to say anything back. Unlike everyone else in this stupid excuse for a school, she was the only one who never asked him for favours, never demanded to be his friend, and he liked that. Now if only he could get her to actually speak in his presence…_

"_Hey, Vaughn! Whatcha doin' over there by that _reject_?" _

_Even back then he facepalmed a lot, as evidenced by the fact that he had just facepalmed. His 'friends', though seemingly with good intentions, looked down on everyone that wasn't him. Their pathetic need to appear cool was almost sickening._

_Smirking and jeering they approached him and instantly started up some inane banter, all of it aimed at the girl, all of it hurtful in some way, shape, or form. It was clear that they hated her, though for what reason was beyond Vaughn. She was just another student, and not an obnoxious one, at that. Apparently that made her 'weird' and 'abnormal'. If that was the logic these people went by, then wasn't he abnormal for being Australian? Apparently not. He was also rich. That overrode anything. _

_Hot tears streaming down her cheeks the girl instantly turned tail and ran, Vaughn's poor excuses for friends laughing and pointing as she ducked into the girl's bathroom, not once even looking back. He shook his head and turned an annoyed eye to his friends. _

"_That was uncalled for, you know." _

_They didn't care. One of them just laughed and the others smiled giddily. _

"_Oh, don't get your panties in a wad, Vaughn," the one closest to him joked. "Now give me a couple hundred credits. The band needs new instruments." _

_Rolling his eyes Vaughn dug in his pocket for his comm. device. They were always asking for money, every single one of them. They should have been happy that he was so compliant; instead they walked around jauntily waving it in other people's faces. They were lucky he had such a…Huge repository to take from. _

"_Fine, here," he said tiredly, sending them the credits. "Just be glad I'm in the same band as you, else you wouldn't get anything." _

"_Oh, cheer up," said the same one, clapping him on the shoulder. "It's just that runt of a reject getting you down. Ignore her and you'll be happy again in no time." _

_Without another word they left him, all three of them with a haughty sort of atmosphere and laughing at anyone who wasn't them. Sighing again he turned back to the bathroom. The girl instantly ducked back in when she saw him watching her, face still streaked with tears. _

"_Happy again in no time, eh?" he muttered exasperatedly. "Because it's a known fact that money brings _nothing_ but happiness." _

_Scowling he walked past the bathroom, muttering a quiet 'sorry' as he passed. The sooner he managed to get out of this school, the better. _

"I thought I told you to stop instigating," said Samus calmly. Gin didn't say anything, just mumbled something unintelligible. Tejed and that girl from highschool were two completely different people…Er, things. That girl from back then was shy and polite. Tejed was blunt and loud and full of insults. There was no way in hell they were one and the same. Gin repressed the almost unnatural urge to yell at Tejed for bringing up old memories and for being an ass.

For a moment his half-baked attempt to not yell at the hybrid reminded Samus of, well, the hybrid. What was he suffering from, anyway? His eyes were red again and he looked about ready to pop a vein. Samus hoped he wasn't about to break something like he had on his ship, namely Tejed's neck. He looked about ready to wrap his hands around her throat, anyhow.

"Your eyes are red again, why?" inquired the Hunter. It took Gin a moment to process what she had said.

"Holy shit, all the fighting," he muttered. Tejed just watched impassively as he dug through his pockets, not really caring at this point in time. His words were still echoing around in her head, and although the voice had decided it wasn't offended anymore, Tejed still had a ways to go.

"I can't find it," muttered Gin, actions growing more frantic. "It's not here, I didn't bring it. I can't find it."

"What can't you find?" asked Samus as she approached him.

"I always carry a backup syringe," he explained, fighting off the urge to attack something. "Just in case something like this happens. It's…It's not on me. It must be back on my ship…"

At the realization he facepalmed, fingers curling in anger as he slid his hand down his face. That's what he got for trusting Hackbot with these things. The damnable robot was probably poking them right now, wondering what they were doing here and not with Gin.

* * *

Hackbot poked at the belt of syringes, wondering what they were doing here and not with Gin.

"Master needs them," he muttered, poking at them. "But…But they're so _shiny_!"

An alarm started up on the side of his head, only to fade out then start up again, almost as if it were trying to pick up some sort of signal. With each new iteration of the alarm, Hackbot came closer and closer to actual sanity.

"Holy shit, Gin left the anti-serum here," he said aloud, the alarm blaring. He grabbed them and made to leave. "I need to get them to him, before…"

The signal was lost and the alarm stopped, along with his purpose. He looked back at the belt in his grasp, realizing how shiny they were.

"But they're so _shiny_," he giggled, poking at them again as he sat down.

* * *

"I'll be fine," he assured himself. "I'll be fine so long as _Tejed_ doesn't insult me and _pirates_ don't decide to show up."

At that point Murphy's Law decided to kick in. Like it always did. At the worst possible point in time.

Still occupied with her own depressing thoughts, Tejed hadn't heard the faint scraping of pirate talons on steel floors, and neither did Gin nor Samus. Their hearing simply wasn't as adept as Tejed's was. The single pirate that decided to rush them from the door, followed by a few more, now that caught their attention.

Gin swore convulsively and instantly drew his katana, its charged length crackling with energy. Briefly Tejed wondered what caused pirates to attack, in large groups, at the worst moments, before activating her scythes as well and keeping them at bay before they could overwhelm her. Samus merely calmly aimed her cannon and began picking them off one by one. She was used to surprise attacks. As long as they didn't breach the doorway, the three hunters would be fine

Gin's blade sliced neatly through the pirates, sending shock after shock through their bodies before they died no doubt painful deaths. It was all so invigorating that for a moment he forgot where he was or what he was doing. It was almost like his old war days, with the Federation, on a distant planet, with nothing but blood and anger flying around. It stoked him on, rekindled old memories he had purposely forgotten about.

It sent him into a rage just like the ones Tejed had entered countless times before.

All too quickly he had taken over the attack, pushing Samus and Tejed back where all they could do was watch from the sidelines. Tejed slowly shook her head, her sadness at his earlier Nazi remark gone.

"That's…Actually quite scary," she commented quietly. Samus couldn't help but agree. It struck her how much Gin, when in this state of mind, was just like Tejed. He even had the bloodlust down pat.

"He's just like you," she commented, blasting a pirate that had gotten too close. "Only you can control it and he's like a runaway train."

Tejed wasn't sure whether she should have been pleased or mildly offended by the Hunter's comment. Instead she retracted her scythes and absently wiped some of the pirate blood off her face. Gin was doing a hell of a good job decimating pirates, but eventually the pirates had to run out of infantry, at which time he would be out of prey. And if Gin's current mindset was anything like an angry Tejed's, then there was only two things left in the room for him to set his sights on…

With a particularly vicious twist of his Chozonian blade, the last pirate was rent in twain, the resulting spray of blood covering Tejed's face once again. And right after she had just wiped it clean, too. Just like Tejed's, Gin's eyes had stoked up to a bright crimson flare. He turned his attention to them and flicked his blade backwards, flinging the blood from it. Slowly he started to walk towards Tejed. Instantly she began to back up, hands held protectively in front of her. Something told her Gin wasn't happy.

"Now, Gin," she started. "I can see that you've entered your own sort of Berserker, and I commend you for that because I always thought you were too wussy to ever pull it off, that and you're not exactly insane like I am, but _why the hell are you coming after ME?"_

No response. Gin was too far gone at this point, the experimentation the Federation had done on him years ago finally taking effect. Samus had quickly run to the side, leaving Tejed to deal with him herself. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was that she was mentally running though all the possible ways to rectify this situation.

"It was all the times I insulted you, wasn't it?" asked Tejed. In response Gin readied his blade and grinned. It crackled as though hungry. "If that's the case, I'm sorry. You got your comeuppance, though. You insulted my heritage, too! Do you have any idea how much it hurts when you call me a Nazi? I'm friggin' German, for god's sake! It's like a stab in the heart! If that's how you feel when I call you a damn crazy Aussie, then I'll stop."

She was rambling just like Gin had on many occasions, yet there was no one to tell _her_ to shut up. And Gin looked about ready to launch himself at her face. Which was exactly what he did.

"Oh fuck," muttered Tejed. The time for chatter had passed. She grabbed the blade in mid air before the bastard thing could cleave her in half, ignoring the electricity that was now running painfully through her body. Her teeth chattered together from the jolt and before Gin could react she swung the blade around and grabbed him by the waist. He struggled violently but she held.

"Godamnit, Samus!" Tejed yelled. "Do something more than just stand there! It's like holding onto a fucking tornado!"

Samus caught something glinting on Gin's belt and quickly dashed forwards to grab it, while he was still restrained. All the while he was yelling and swearing and threatening Tejed's life. Not Samus', he didn't seem to even care about Samus. Just Tejed. Samus leapt back with the syringe just as Tejed lost her grip, Gin grabbing her left arm and giving it a good yank to get free. She cried out in pain, her armour busting and clattering to the ground. With a loud crack he managed to break her arm and grab his sword.

In Gin's frantic effort to retrieve the syringe, he must have completely missed it. At least Samus had it now. Now all she had to do was somehow get it into him, which was easier said than done.

"Tejed! Keep him busy!" she yelled. The hybrid looked up, startled, her arm hanging at an awkward angle.

"My arm's fucking broken! What do you want from me?"

No response. Muttering angrily Tejed ducked just as that electric blade sliced overhead, a few whisps of her hair falling to the ground. Without warning Gin doubled around and punched her square in the face before she could even react. Whatever the Federation had done to him, thought Tejed bleakly, they did a damn good job doing it.

Samus meanwhile was busy with the syringe and her cannon. She had managed to disassemble one of her missiles just enough so that it was a meagre shell with a homing device and a weak thruster. Quickly she loaded her cannon and took aim.

Gin had grabbed Tejed around her battered and bruised neck, fingers digging into her flesh. Snarling he hoisted her against the wall, the Federation having seemingly pumped up his strength, as well. And he looked downright pissed.

"Go ahead," he hissed. "Call me a crazy Aussie once more. Just once more, before I kill you."

Tejed gasped for breath and scratched futilely at his hands. There was no doubt she could get free if she really wanted to, but that entailed ripping arms from bodies and killing things. As much as she was loathe to admit it, Tejed simply couldn't hurt Gin. Blood started to seep from the gouges his fingers had created and started to eat through his gauntlets in self defence. Gin did not care.

"I'm serious, Tejed," he spat. "You _god damn rage Nazi._ How many times have you been frightened by your own reflection? I don't blame you, it is pretty hideous. Here, let me _do something about it." _

His grip tightened and Tejed felt something in her already ravaged neck come close to giving way. The voice seemed to find the whole ordeal hilariously ironic and was laughing raucously.

"_The great Ms. Jenal," _it laughed._ "Killed by the very same Aussie she could never hurt. Oh, the irony is particularly delicious, tonight. Too bad when you die, I go with you. Pity. I was so starting to enjoy life… " _

At that point Samus fired, the thruster imbued syringe making a beeline straight for Gin's exposed neck. The effect was instantaneous, but not quite quick enough. The makeshift weapon clattered noisily to the ground, its purpose spent.

A loud crack rang out just as the serum entered Gin's system, and with a gasp he let go of the hybrid. She fell to her hands and knees, head dangling at an awkward angle. She had no idea what Gin had done but her neck was killing her, along with her arm. The pain coursed through her neck and down her shoulders and felt for all the world like it had been broken.

"Oh god, Tejed," he managed to choke out, his eyes fading back to blue as he realized what he had done.

Slowly she stumbled to her feet, head still lolling about. She could not move it to save her life, and with a trembling claw she grasped her head by the antennae, pulling it up.

"I think…" she started, hushed voice uncertain. "I think you broke my neck."

Gin felt like he was about to vomit, profusely. The sight of exactly one Tejed, head hanging at an unnatural angle, was dredging up old memories he thought he had forgotten. He held a hand to his mouth to quell the nausea and mustered up his voice.

"How...How are you even still alive?"

"…I was engineered that way."

"...Does it hurt?" he asked.

"What the fuck do you think?" she snapped, suddenly angry. "My neck is fucking _broken_. I can't even hold it up properly."

To emphasize her point she let it go. Her head flopped to the side and she glared at the hunter from this new angle, ignoring the pain coursing through her now defunct neck. The left side of her face, which was now technically the bottom because her head was on its side, twitched in anger.

"You ruin my voice, blow out my hearing, have a good time playing 'let's punch Tejed in the face', fracture my arm, and now you break my neck. I didn't know you cared so much. I love you too, Gin."

She had meant to say the last part sarcastically; instead it came out with a little too much emotion and quickly she bit her tongue. Gin hadn't seemed to catch it but Samus looked at her curiously, her feelings hidden behind her visor. Snarling Tejed pulled her head back up and pretended she hadn't said anything. She had more pressing matters at the moment, like getting something to hold her head in place while her spine healed. Like hell if she was going to hold the damn thing up the entire time.

Samus seemed to know that, while the injury was no doubt grotesque, a seven foot tall space pirate hybrid like Tejed would survive it just fine. She was standing there patiently, scouring the room for something to keep Tejed's head in place. Gin on the other hand, had seemingly suffered some sort of drastic change in behaviour, as evidenced by the fact that he was searching frantically for something, anything, to help Tejed.

Tejed just sneered at him. She couldn't believe she had let herself slip up like that. Human emotions were a weakness, if Gin knew how she felt he'd tell everyone else, and the whole galaxy wouldn't fear her anymore. At least, that was what the voice had said. To Tejed it made a lot of sense.

"There," said Samus gently, pointing into the far corner of their small room. A thick steel rod lay propped up against the wall and Gin's blue eyes lit up when he saw it. Samus would've helped, but she felt this was something Gin had to do. Quickly he grabbed the rusted old rod and ran up to Tejed. He still felt disgusted by both her injury, and the fact that he had caused it, but he was determined to right his wrong.

"Kneel down," he instructed. For once Tejed didn't argue and knelt down to his level, wincing slightly.

"Cervical fracture, spinal cord intact," he muttered. He measured the rod against Tejed's neck and promptly jammed the thing into the neck of her suit. "_And_ a broken arm. For humans it heals in about eight to twelve weeks, the arm in about the same time. For freakish abominations of science, on the other hand…"

Tejed growled at the remark but Gin paid her no heed, too busy with his work. Samus watched quietly, her respect for him slowly growing. Not only was he a halfway decent bounty hunter and apparently filthy stinking rich, he was also knowledgeable, at least to a certain degree, about medicine. Tejed shared the Hunter's admiration.

"Where'd you learn this?" she asked softly. She was no longer angry at him. The voice decided to keep quiet for once.

"Despite his…Quite _obvious_ insanity, Hackbot knows a surprising amount about medicine, particularly in the field," he answered stoically, preoccupied with his task. He wrapped a piece of clothe he had found near the back tightly around the hybrid's head, tying it to the rod. "That's probably why I keep him around. He…_Knows_ things. And he keeps whining to stay with me…There. Let go."

Hesitantly Tejed released her grip, half expecting her head to loll forwards again. Nothing. It stayed upright, the rod keeping it straight. It was sore and stiff, but the shooting pains had gone. Still busy he turned his attention to her arm and, using a scrap of her broken armour and another piece of the clothe, bound that as well. Despite herself Tejed smiled. Gin always did have a curious way of making her feel better, of soothing her rage.

"Thank you," she said gently.

For a moment she forgot her misguided need to keep her emotions hidden, away from sight. She wanted to tell Gin she loved him, if only just once. After all, that's what human girls do, right? Find someone, anyone, to love, who would love them back? And what else could this strange emotion that she had only felt once before in this pitiful semblance of life be?

Gin was surprised. Tejed had never shown him anything other than contempt. Awkwardly he smiled back, simply glad that he had helped her and that he had righted his horrible wrong.

"You're welcome."

Tejed had half opened her mouth to say it but the moment had passed. Gin stood back up and her mood dissolved back into resentment. No one would ever love something as hideous as her. She wasn't even human anymore, far from it. What use was there even trying to hold onto her last pirated scraps of humanity that she had managed to salvage?

"…To remember who I was…" she muttered sadly. Gin looked at her curiously and extended a hand to help her up, not quite catching what she had said.

"What was that?"

"…Nothing."

Tejed took his outstretched hand and let him pull her up halfway. He was too short compared to her to help her up all the way. For a moment she lost her balance, not used to having her head in a makeshift brace. She couldn't even move her head to the side; to do that she had to twist her entire upper half. She snorted angrily.

"_I told you to forget it," _said the voice mockingly. Whatever respect it had for her when she had finally controlled her insanity was gone._ "What use is love to you anyhow? It will only hinder you…" _

Reluctantly Tejed agreed. She didn't say anything to either Gin or Samus, but she agreed. Angrily she pushed down her feelings towards Gin and turned back to that damnable door. It was still broken, despite the fight they had just lived through, except now it was stuck open a fraction of an inch. She grinned and approached it.

"Gin," said Samus gently, ignoring Tejed. "Explain to me what just happened. Please."

"I…I broke Tejed's neck…?"

"But what made you do it? Why were you so angry?"

"So the Federation used me as their guinea pig," he started with a sigh. Tejed had wedged her fingers into the door jam and was trying to pry it open. "I was their prototype, the first in the Elite Project, the first to get injected with their experimental serum. Too bad that, as the first, they hadn't tested it. It had…Side effects."

"Side effects?" parroted Samus, an eyebrow cocked.

"Side effects," confirmed Gin with a sad nod. "It was developed to enhance the senses and make, well, super soldiers. It pumps up my resistance to pain and more or less makes me almost unstoppable. It also makes me angry, it makes me paranoid, it fills me with bloodlust and above all else…It makes me just the _tiniest_ little bit insane."

"…But you're fine now?" she said slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," he replied, absently rubbing the back of his now sore neck. "The anti-serum will be coursing through my system for another week or so."

A loud wrench of tearing metal filled the room and they both turned to Tejed. The door lay open dejectedly, what remained of it torn to steel shreds. Awkwardly she turned back to them.

"Come on," she said quietly. "I want to go to sleep and my neck's killing me."

* * *

Tejed wasn't getting to sleep any time soon. They had only gotten a few measly miles from the frigate when the rest of the pirates on board decided they couldn't leave just yet. They had sent a few fighters out after them, and these weren't the dinky little paper craft they had sent when Tejed first escaped with Samus, oh no. These actually seemed to be made out of steel, with actual weapons to boot, not pansy little lasers.

To say Tejed didn't like it all was a severe understatement.

"God damnit this is _beyond_ annoying!" she spat angrily, narrowly avoiding a streak of white-hot laser fire. "Why can't these pirates be meek and subservient like all the others?"

"Because they're dead set on getting you back?" offered Jarvis. Without warning Tejed smashed her fist into a terminal off to her right, rendering Jarvis' voice inaudible and his camera eye obsolete.

"I thought I told you to be quiet when I'm working," she seethed angrily. Whatever feelings she had harboured in Gin's presence, whatever shyness or sorrow or happiness she had felt, had melted in the chaotic turmoil of her anger. Which it always did, so she wasn't exactly surprised. Actually, it felt damn good to be angry again, especially now that she had something to take it out on.

A small beep; despite being blind and mute Jarvis was still functioning; as the holographic cross hairs integrated into the main viewscreen locked onto a ship. Grinning maliciously Tejed unloaded her weapons onto it, pleased as it took its damage before flying her ship right into it. Who said brute strength didn't apply to space fights, as well?

Almost languidly she doubled back around, thrilled by the cloud of debris that now constituted the fighter. Was that a dead pirate body floating through the vacuum along with the debris, his body bloated and warped from the lack of an atmosphere? Tejed chuckled. She sure as hell hoped so.

But wait, what was this? Samus' ship, a bright streak of orange in a sea of blacks and grays, was doing next to nothing. Gin's ship was in much the same boat. The old habit of pirates to _swarm_ was starting to take effect, and despite their best attempts there were simply too many of them. That and their fighters were strong, so they were harder to kill. Tejed shook her head and growled. All she had wanted to do was go to sleep.

The console in front of her started to flash purple: incoming transmission. Sighing she accepted it.

"What do you want, you filthy rich kid?" she spat angrily. Gin looked unfazed.

"I'm dropping the big bomb," he stated simply. "When you see me do it, _run_."

"The…Big bomb?" she asked, confused and curious as to what _else_ he was hiding. Gin nodded once and terminated the connection, prompting Tejed to seek out his ship and watch the show unfold. As she was watching, Gin activated the connection again, startling her.

"Wha-Again?"

"Scratch that, run _now_. You're ship's not fast enough." Tejed merely gave him a 'what the hell' look. A streak of neon orange jetted past, rattling her ship. "Follow Samus. I'll be there shortly."

With that he was gone again. Muttering Tejed did as she was told and took off after Samus, using not her weapons but her ship itself as a battering ram whenever one of those damnable fighters decided to get in her way. It was true, her ship _wasn't_ fast. It was large and clunky and covered in guns and made a damn good battering ram. But what it wasn't was fast, as evidenced by the fact that Samus was already a good couple miles ahead of her.

"God damnit, why is my ship so slow?" she yelled in frustration. She punched the main console a few times, kicked it in an effort to speed up. Her ship still more or less chugged along purposely, determinedly. Just really slowly. Snarling in frustration she sat back and watched as Samus slowed to a stop far ahead and swung around to watch.

"Yeah, watch the show," commented the hybrid dryly. "Don't even wait for me to get there."

Her ship rocked from side to side again, almost throwing her from her chair. Gin's ship darted past, even faster than Samus', and swung around beside her. Tejed growled.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she muttered. "Don't get all excited, or anything."

A stray fighter somehow managed to clock her. Angrily she rammed it from the side, sending it spiralling out of control before peppering it with weapons fire.

And that's when her ship _really_ trembled. The blast was so powerful, so loud, that even in the vacuum of space she heard it. She heard the low bass rumble of space being rent in twain, and, eyes wide, yanked hard on the controls, swinging her ship around to see what had just happened. Jarvis' would have complained, if he had a voice to complain with.

The 'big bomb' was a very accurate description. As she watched, the very fabric of space warped and distorted, pulling in everything within a couple mile radius, pirate fighters and exactly one frigate included. It was almost eerie watching it go off with no sound, as if something that powerful was almost desecrated without sound to announce it. Tejed had never seen something so utterly powerful. It was not an explosion the bomb had created. It was a black hole.

She shuddered as the shockwave hit her, the rippling effect of space gently distorting her cabin.

"Creepy," she whispered.

The initial explosion having expended itself, the singularity slowly faded, sending out a few more ripples before vanishing into the fabric of space. Where once there had been an entire fleet, there was now nothing. The pirate inhabited space was now as pristine and clear as it had been at the dawn of time. And all Tejed could do was gape at it.

She was still in a state of shock when Gin rang her up again.

"And that's how you clear a region of space," he said. He should have sounded happy, ecstatic even, considering what he had just done. Instead he sounded less than glad, sad, even. Slowly Tejed turned his attention to him, still bewildered by the sheer power of exactly one singularity.

"Where the hell did you get that…?" she asked quietly.

"I made it," he said with a sigh. "I have three more on my ship. I only use them in times of dire emergency."

Tejed slowly nodded.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"So I've heard," he replied.

Without another word Tejed terminated the connection. She stared at the empty spot of space for a few more seconds before setting in a course for Earth and slowly arising from her seat. Yawning she started towards her main quarters, stretching as she did so. That had been a bit too much action for one day, too much new information to take in. Too many new injuries.

She was going to sleep.

* * *

"Gin, we need to talk."

"Wha?"

Gin looked up suddenly. His computer had not alerted him to a transmission, and yet there was Samus, staring at him from the viewscreen. Her helmet lay on the floor beside her chair and her hair was down, no longer in its customary ponytail. Her eyes were unreadable, far away. Gin was confused.

"About what?" he inquired. Unconsciously he glanced at the readouts on the viewscreen. The space was still empty, the pirates were still dead. Space rippled a bit, but that was a common after effect of the 'Darkmass Bomb', as he had named it. He quickly ruled out pirates. So what else was there to talk about? The Federation? His experimentation? The Darkmass Bomb? He was at a loss.

"About…You."

Oh, so that's what it was about, he thought sullenly. He glanced at the readouts again. Tejed was heading slowly towards Earth, just like them. Her ship was lagging behind but she didn't seem to care.

"I already told you everything," he said tiredly, rubbing his temples as he did so. "What else is there to know?"

"I think you misunderstand," said Samus quietly. She was unused to these kinds of things, to talking to other humans. This was one of those moments where she wished she hadn't been raised by a completely different species.

"I want to talk about…Us…"

She actually blushed. This was awkward enough as is, without annoying human biological processes getting in the way. Like the irritating habit of blood to rush to one's face when talking about something embarrassing. It had only happened once before, and had been just as humiliating then as it was now.

"I…I don't follow," stated Gin, confused. For a moment Samus wanted to reach right through the viewscreen and strangle him for being so dense.

"Fine," she sighed, defeated. She cursed herself for her decades of ignored social skills. "Just meet me on Earth, then."

With that she terminated the connection, leaving Gin alone, and still confused. The computer sighed.

"You're dense, you know that?" it said blandly.

"…Well it's not my fault if I had no idea what she was talking about."

"You like her, right?" questioned the computer. It may have been a jumble of circuits incapable of emotion but it still saw it all as clear as day. Gin was instantly on the defensive. He stammered for a moment before finding his voice.

"Well, yes, in a _professional_ sort of way-"

"-Then think about it."

Gin put two and two together, and got four. He gasped, suddenly understanding, then promptly let his head meet the console.

"God, I'm so stupid!" he berated himself in time to the head bashes.

"No argument there," agreed the computer, slightly irritated by the damage Gin was doing to the console. Sighing he straightened back up and peered out the main window. Samus' ship was a few miles ahead of his, making a steady course straight for Earth.

"'Gin we have to talk'", he mimicked, sighing again. Something told him getting to Earth was going to be quite eventful.

* * *

"Send the reports already," growled Jim angrily. The commander bowed from the viewscreen.

"Yes, sir," he hissed angrily.

"And actually do it when you hang up, you filthy creature, or we'll withhold your phazon supplies."

The creature's eyes flared in surprised.

"You wouldn't dare," he hissed. "You cut off our phazon and you can say goodbye to your _precious_ Physeter."

"It's a risk we're willing to take," retorted Jim. "If I don't get those reports in the next week, you won't be getting anymore phazon."

The commander growled low in his throat and bowed again, this time with much malice.

"Yes, _sir_," he hissed. The connection went black and Jim leaned back in his chair, massaging his temples.

"_We_ get _them_ to make TransFuse for _us_, and when they do, they tell us absolutely nothing."

Sighing he leaned forwards and pushed a button on his intercom.

"Stephen, get the Elite Project underway again. I want some good soldiers this time around, not those wimpy ones from our first attempt. Damn Elites all died."

"Anyone in particular, sir?" inquired the subordinate. "Mayhap from cell block one, where we keep the most dangerous?"

Jim thought for a moment, mulling over the possibilities in his head.

"How's about Shackbolt?" he suggested with a grin. "Poor fellow's been locked up for far too long, must be downright mean right about now. He'll make a good starter."

"Yes, sir," replied Stephen.

"Oh, and Stephen?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't use the revised Physeter Ms. Dejet gave us, use the raw stuff from the pirates. I want Mr. Shackenfreude as mean and unpredictable as Omega Phoenix was all those years ago."

"…Yes, sir," replied Stephan uncertainly. Jim merely grinned and routed through his desk for a cigar instead of the usual alcohol. He was feeling good today. He finally managed to get the pirates to comply, and the old Elite Project was underway again. He chuckled as he lit the cigar and sucked on it, exhaling a large puff of smoke.

"What can go wrong?" he asked no one. "What can go wrong?"


	10. Chapter 10

_I was just drafted into the higher program a few days ago. I didn't even know it went any higher. I'm just in it for the training, to be a bounty hunter. I wonder how different it will be? They already talked to me a few times, told me some things that I'm not quite sure I understand. Their best doctors and scientists already looked at me, to make sure I'm fit for the program. Apparently I am. And Vince is, too. Good. If he wasn't accepted, then I'd refuse to go on. _

_-Vaughn Masters

* * *

_

Tejed sat in some dejected corner of Gin's ship, angry and irritated by her current situation. She scratched at her neck, annoyed by the obnoxious device Gin had strapped to her in order for her neck heal faster. Not only did that damn Aussie drill it into her skull with thick steel bolts to keep it in place, he had also decided to would be a good idea to fashion, and this was the part that irked her to no end, a cone to keep her from scratching at it. A cone. The audacity of it all made her want to punch something.

And who else but Hackbot should absently walk by, whistling one of his sickeningly merry tunes.

Glaring and angry from the pain and the humiliation, Tejed immediately punched him square in the face, sending his head flying across the room. At this point she didn't care if she killed him or not, though the act of punching the obnoxious machine was highly satisfying. She heard the clank of his head hitting the far wall and smiled sadistically. She was now free one pest. Two more to go.

Hackbot's headless body stumbled around and Tejed frowned. What hadn't it fallen over sideways yet? Annoyed that it was still mobile she reached forwards from her seat and kicked it over, scratching at her brace as she did so. It amused her how the body fell over sideways, arms still flailing. She chuckled, for a moment happy.

And that's when she heard the skittering, and looking around spotted something that made her heart stop.

"Oh god, no," she whispered.

As she watched, Hackbot's head came skittering right back on six mechanical legs, looking as happy as always. Tejed's face had twisted into some strange mixture of fear, confusion, and disgust, her top lip peeled back and her eye twitching. By all means the damn thing should have been dead. She punched his head off! She heard it clatter against the far wall, and she had kicked over his stubborn body!

"Why aren't you dead?" she asked quietly, still in shock. Hackbot's head reattached to the body and he got back up again.

"Because I love you!" he exclaimed happily, before embracing her in a tight hug. Tejed's eye twitch intensified and she growled.

"Don't fucking touch me," she seethed. No response. It was time to resort to dramatic actions. "…Please." Her tongue burned after saying that, almost as if it were some curse viler than the ones she usually spat.

As quickly as he had embraced her he was back up again, whistling that exact same tune. It was so happy and out of key that it made Tejed's ears hurt. Glaring she held her hands to her ears and watched him skip out of sight.

"He can't be killed," she hissed angrily. Scratch her earlier thought, she was now back up to three pests. And one of them was apparently impervious to death. For a moment it made her horribly angry. What right did he, the most obnoxious person she had ever met, have to not die? By every means, he should have died over fifty times already.

But then, he couldn't be killed. Suddenly Tejed smiled sadistically, picking at her brace as she did so. She was bloodthirsty, she needed to kill things to keep sane, and he couldn't be killed.

"He can't be killed," she chuckled. It looked like she had a new toy, something she could vent her rage on. And he was so obnoxious she'd never feel bad about doing it.

Happy that she had found something new to kill repeatedly, or at least violently attack repeatedly, she awkwardly clambered to her feet and started off down the hallways towards the bridge. Sitting in some dejected corner of Gin's ship picking at a neck brace and lashing out at robots was fun, yes, but she was growing tired of it.

She walked slowly and with purpose, taking her time. Plus she wasn't going to go very fast with her damnable brace, either. It was even more awkward to move around in than the crudely fashioned steel rod had, and to top it off this one was drilled into her skull. And her skull itched from it. Madly.

In a spurt of sudden anger she started to chew on the cone, tearing the edge and making it all raggedy. It did nothing to stop the itching, which enraged her even more, and growling she proceeded to scratch furiously at the steel bolts, tearing her skin and starting up the bleeding again. The steel bolts hissed as her blood hit them but were too reinforced to be damaged.

"Stupid fucking brace," she muttered angrily, wishing Hackbot were here so she could punch off his head again. The thing angered almost as much as her shoulder guards did, the only difference being this was temporary and those were permanent. She would have proceeded to chew on the guards instead, but her head was stubbornly immobile and there was a cone in the way.

So she did the next best thing. She proceeded to angrily chew on her arm. It was a good thing that she was still wearing her suit. Her teeth slid harmlessly over the armour Gin had rebuilt for her, leaving minor scratches and her skin underneath unharmed. But Tejed didn't want to be unharmed. She wanted to be in pain and she wanted to cause pain. She wanted to feel blood against her filthy excuse for a mouth and she wanted to taste it with her black segmented tongue.

"Tejed, what the hell are you doing?"

The hybrid stopped her deranged chewing, froth forming at the corners of her mouth, and looked up. Gin stood at one of the side doors staring at her. Guiltily she lowered her arm and wiped off her mouth.

"…The cone of shame humiliates and embarrasses me," she replied stoically.

"It's…It's not the 'Cone of Shame'," he said with a shake of the head as he approached her. "It's a collar to keep you from picking at your brace…Which I see you've been doing _anyway_."

She grumbled angrily and avoided his eyes as she kneeled down.

"I feel shamed when I wear it," she said quietly. Gin started to inspect the bolts.

"Why do you feel shamed? It's a medical device."

"I feel like a deranged excuse for an animal that has to wear it to keep from picking at its own wounds."

"Well, I'm sorry Tejed," said Gin. After inspecting the cone and making sure it was still in one pieces, he had fetched a wrench from one of his pockets and was now systematically tightening the bolts one by one. Tejed winced slightly as he did so. "I'm not going to put it lightly, but that's exactly what you are."

She winced again, both at the dull pain and his blunt answer.

"I'm still human," she muttered dejectedly. Gin sighed and pocketed the wrench again.

"No, you're not. Why can't you just accept that and move on?"

"You try moving on when it's the only thing you've known for _twenty_ _six_ _years_," she hissed, angry again despite Gin's calming effect. "Walk in my shoes for a few days and tell me how easy it is. _I_ _dare_ _you_."

"You don't wear shoes, Tejed," joked Gin as she stood. Tejed's eyes flared.

"That's beside the point. See?" She held one of her hands up in front of her, one of her fingers held up. "This is the point;" She pointed to it with her other hand. ";And it's right beside it!"

Gin gave her a fingers a weird look and didn't respond, prompting her to slowly stand as well and glare down at him. He did what he always did. He just stared impassively back, not frightened or worried in the least. Tejed hated that. People were supposed to be scared and worried, they were supposed to run, but not Gin. He took everything she did in an effort to scare people off and threw it back in her face. It was almost annoying.

Speaking of annoying, that damn whistled tune was steadily approaching her again. Growling Tejed turned, already knowing who it was. Hackbot came out of one of the side doors and waved happily to them.

"Hiya, Master!" he said happily. "Hiya, Tej-"

She couldn't take it anymore, the damn thing was just too happy for her to even be near without feeling sick. Her fist collided with his head again and with an almost ridiculous sounding hollow clang it went flying. Gin watched futilely as Hackbot's body fell to the ground, shocked by what he had just witnessed. He knew Tejed hated him, but he never thought she would actually act on it. He looked at the hybrid with horror written across his features.

"You just killed Hackbot!" he exclaimed.

"He's fine," she retorted. Sure enough, not ten seconds later his head came skittering back, and despite himself Gin facepalmed. He should have known. Hackbot was just a bit too obnoxious to go down that easily. The only question was where the machine got the legs. On his head.

"Where'd you get the legs, Hackbot?" he asked tiredly. Quickly Hackbot got back to his feet and beamed at Gin. Tejed rolled her eyes.

"The black market!" he exclaimed happily.

"…With what?"

"Your credit card!"

Gin facepalmed, a natural reaction to anything that came out of the robot's synthesizer. Briefly he wondered if there was a time when Hackbot was actually sane, then quickly dismissed it. The idea was both ridiculous and highly unlikely.

"Go away, Hackbot," said the hybrid curtly. Hackbot gave a lopsided salute and scampered off down the hallway, quickly disappearing into a side door. Tejed sneered at his retreating back, pleased that he was gone. He was too happy. It was like some horrible disease. All she wanted to do in his presence was pretend he was a space pirate and kill him. Wait, scratch the pretending, it would only dull down the experience. She just wanted to kill him, plain and simple.

Gin's comm. device started up its alarm and quickly he fetched it, eyes skimming whatever message it had sent him.

"Well, I have to go, Tejed," he said quickly, patting her on the arm. Apparently the message was urgent. He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Gin stopped. "What the hell am I supposed to do, wander aimlessly around your ship?"

Gin shrugged.

"If you want to, then sure."

He turned and left, and once again Tejed was alone. Her ears fell slightly as she watched him leave, kind of like a dog's when it sees something saddening. One of these days she was going to have to say it to him, tell her why she stuck around. Ah well, one of these days, but not today.

She turned back around and started down the hall where she had come from, peeking in doors as she passed them. What _was_ in Gin's ship, anyhow? She had been on it numerous times already, but she had never really explored it, seen what was behind locked doors. And despite her surly attitude she was curious by nature. Slowly she passed the small ledge she had been seated on, turned some corridors, entered some rooms, and was all out nosy. At least Gin's ship wasn't a talker, she thought sullenly. She hated talkers. Always sent shivers up her back.

"Oh, what's this?" she asked no one. The door she had come to was marked 'Do Not Enter', in bright neon letters. She smirked and pushed her way in anyway. Mere doors wouldn't stand in her way. And Gin _had_ given her permission to wander the ship. It was almost like a recipe for disaster.

She chuckled when she saw the bed in the corner, instantly knowing what the sign was for. Only Hackbot would actually obey something as obnoxious as a do not enter sign. Good thing she wasn't Hackbot.

"Looks like I found your room, ya crazy Aussie," she whispered menacingly.

Did she? Did she dare to rudely sift through his personal belongings? Hell yeah! She _was_ Tejed Jenal after all. If there was one thing the pirate's did right, it was remove all sense of ethics from her.

She strode through the rather spacious room and snorted angrily. Why did _he_ get such a big room? Her's was horribly dinky and small, and cramped to all hell. She could get used to sleeping in a room like this. The bed was a bit small, of course, and the ceiling could have been higher, but all in all it was very nice. Hell, the entire ship was very nice. And very nice was putting it lightly. It was fancy, was what it was.

"Only the best for damn crazy fancy Aussie's," she remarked dryly, coming to a stop by a small cabinet. A few pictures sat their idly, actually physical pictures framed in their fancy little frames. A few more were hanging on the walls but she ignored them.

There was that word again: fancy. She snorted as she picked one up, inspecting the frame. It reminded her of her old home, from way back when. Her family had been more old-fashioned, and framed pictures had lined the walls. Her parents never did like holo-pictures. It was almost like stepping back in time.

With a sigh she changed her gaze to the actual picture. She could have sworn that the man pictured was Gin, if not for his striking off-coloured eyes and that goofy grin he wore. She snickered. Was this the brother she had heard him mention a few times, by chance? He certainly had the same face, a face that at the same time she wanted to punch in then laugh at. Shaking her head slightly she set it back down.

She was about to leave when another picture caught her eye. This one looked almost exactly the same as the other, except the man in question had piercing blue eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and she shakily picked it up.

"Vaughn Masters," she read quietly, tracing a claw over the engraved writing at the base. He was clothed in a fancy black suit and with a huge grin plastered across his features: he had just graduated. Smiling crookedly Tejed hugged the picture to her chest.

"So it _is_ you," she whispered. "You're the same Vaughn I loved in highschool. I wonder…?"

She inspected the background, eyes sweeping over the line of faces therein before settling on one in particular. It was her, when she had been human. She let out a loud joyous laugh and almost felt like a little girl again. That settled it. This _was_ the very same Vaughn, the very same Gin, filthy rich prototype Australian Elite that he had become.

"I have to tell him!" she said suddenly, putting down the picture carefully. "I have to let him know I'm still alive…"

Quickly she left the room, slowing to a walk as she wandered through the halls again.

"I wonder if he kept it…" she wondered aloud, grinning widely. "Maybe…If he did…" It was a hard urge to resist, the urge to punch something out of sheer happiness. She vaguely hoped Hackbot would randomly show up, as he was prone to do, just so she could punch his head off again. But he didn't, and, in absolutely no hurry and with a stomach almost literally full of butterflies, she continued exploring.

The rest of Gin's ship, or what she saw on her little route, was actually quite uneventful. And clean. And boring. Where were the dented walls and the blood splatters? The posters and drawings and random junk lying around? The grotesque trophies hanging on the walls? Surely she couldn't be the only one who collected trophies and nailed them to her walls. Oh wait, that was right. Gin wasn't insane like her. Well, good thing he had only seen the main room of her ship. Any deeper and he probably wouldn't be very happy.

His ship even _smelled_ clean. And by clean, she meant it didn't smell like anything save for brushed metal and carpets. At least her ship had a very…Distinct smell. A different smell for every room. Tejed enjoyed the multitude of smells and the fact that she could identify every single one if she so wanted to. Gin's ship was devoid of that. If she decided to walk blindfolded through it she'd become completely and utterly lost. That didn't happen in her ship.

But she sighed, happy despite her uncomfortable neck brace and the throbbing pain in her right arm. And the absence of smells. And the presence of almost sterile cleanliness. She much preferred her own ship, as opposed to his. This one was far too 'sterile' to be comfortable. It could use a bit of…Personality. And a mouthy Jarvis. Gin's computer was probably just as dull as the rest of the ship.

And what was this? Muttered conversation? Her lazy route through Gin's ship must have brought her back around to the main room, and apparently the Gin within. Who was he talking to? Samus? Hackbot? Smiling absently Tejed angled towards it. A faint tune had started up in the back of her head and unconsciously she started whistling it. The act of whistling was very nice, she hadn't been sure if her repulsive excuse for a mouth could accomplish it anymore.

She absently walked into the room, inadvertently catching the tail end of their conversation. Her whistling died down.

"I mean, I like Tejed as a friend, Samus, and despite her flaws she's a very good friend, but I don't like her like _that_. I like…I like _you_ like that."

She stopped dead in her tracks and watched them from the doorway. It felt like something had punched her in the stomach and a lump had formed in her throat. Her happiness was gone and she felt like she was about to cry.

"Gin…" she faltered, voice catching in her throat. The two hunters instantly turned at her voice, unaware that she had been there.

"Tejed!" said Gin, turning red in the face. "I…"

Samus saw where this was going and didn't like it. Finally the lump in Tejed's throat broke and a tear ran down her face. She took a step backwards, overwhelmed by intense feelings of sorrow and guilt. For lack of a better term she felt like she had just been stabbed in the back, straight through to her heart, then out the front.

Samus stood back as Gin approached her.

"Tejed, I didn't mean that-"

"-Stay away," she snapped.

She had never felt this kind of pain before. She had felt pain when her neck had been broken, she had felt pain when she had been shot in the head, and she had felt pain when she awoke that one time on a pirate operating table. But this pain was worse. She could take all that other pain, all the physical stuff, but this gnawed at her soul and she could do nothing to relieve it. It hurt in a way she couldn't describe, and she hated it.

"Tejed, let me explain," soothed Gin. He laid a hand on her arm and smiled up at her, though his icy blue eyes spoke of sorrow and confusion. He had not wanted her to hear that, and he had not wanted to hurt her.

It was almost as if the voice in her head had snapped its fingers, it happened so fast. The pain warped from sorrow to rage and she snatched her arm back, suddenly violently angry at him. What right did he have to take her feelings and curbstomp them into the ground? She had loved him, had enjoyed his company, though she never showed it, and here he was, with feelings for Samus. Someone he hardly even knew.

"Go ahead," she snapped, her face taking on a vicious snarl. "Explain."

He tried but he couldn't without repeating himself. Tejed's eyes narrowed at him and she leaned down so she could look him in the face.

"You filthy Australian rich kid," she seethed. "I should have listened to the voice instead of ignoring it. You're just like everyone else, just like _them_. You look at me and you don't see a human you see a _space_ _pirate_. And I fucking _hate_ space pirates."

"That's not it, Tejed, I-"

"-I SENT YOU A LETTER _YEARS_ _AGO_!" she screamed suddenly, straightening back up. "I had FEELINGS FOR YOU! And I STILL DID, up until five seconds ago, when you SMASHED THEM WITHOUT A _SECOND FUCKING THOUGHT_!"

Unwanted the taste of metal had come back to her mouth, along with a newfound hate for Gin. The hunter in question seemed to suddenly realize who she was. It was like a smack in the face and he wondered why he hadn't realized months ago. Oh yeah, the Tejed he remembered wasn't a freakish hybrid.

"That was you?" he exclaimed, confused.

"Who the fuck did you _think it was_?" she yelled back. The side of her face twitched, an action mirrored in her hand. "I bet the _moment_, the very MOMENT you received that letter you _forgot_ about it, let it float away. You probably INCINERATED THE DAMN THING THE MOMENT YOU REALIZED WHO IT WAS FROM. I had doubts when I sent it to you, feared that you'd never reply back. And you know what? MY FEARS WERE RIGHT! YOU _NEVER_ REPLIED, AND I WAITED FOR _YEARS_."

Any normal person would have lost their voice by now. Good thing Tejed wasn't a normal person.

"THE VOICE WAS RIGHT!" she continued undaunted. Gin just stood there helplessly. "Every single time I felt something for someone, even back when I wasn't _this_, something happened and it all fell apart. Every single time! EVERY SINGLE _GOD FORSAKEN TIME! I __**LOVEDYOU**__, GIN!" _

With that she turned and stormed out of the room, hurt and angry that Gin would do such a thing. And only after she had gone through such rigorous means _not_ to rip his weasely little head off, like she had wanted to on more than one occasion. All in all she thought she had been quite complacent with him.

Still horrified that he had hurt Tejed, Gin ran after her, determined to make her feel at least a tiny bit better.

"Oh, come on, Tejed. Don't be like that."

His hand brushed her arm and quick as a flash she whirled on him, eyes burning with rage.

"Fuck off, Vaughn," she hissed. She turned again but Gin wouldn't give up.

"Tejed-"

"_FUCK_ _**OFF**_!" she screamed, rounding on him again. Her bottom jaw had split open and she was more or less right in his face, so close that if she so wanted to, she could bite the damn thing right off. One of her maxillae brushed the side of Gin's cheek and he winced slightly, not at the close proximity, but at Tejed's breath. It was hot and putrid and had a faint chemical scent that almost made him gag.

Carefully Gin put a finger on one of her fangs and pushed it away, trying his best not to shudder at its slimy feel.

"I'm sorry, Tejed," he whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It was the last thing I wanted."

For a moment her eyes dimmed and she closed her mouth, straightening back up. Then she saw Samus watching from the door, and she was angry again. Repressing her anger she abruptly turned again and strode down the hall, muttering a steady stream of curses as she did so. She only turned back once when she got to the door at the end of the hallway, her hand resting on the handle.

"Goodbye, Vaughn," she said quietly. The door opened, then closed, and she was gone. Despite himself Gin felt utterly dejected.

"Fine! Go!" he yelled at the door. "Be a twelve year old! See if I care!"

Samus laid a hand on his shoulder and he jumped slightly, not realizing she was there. Sighing he put his face in his hands and massaged his temples.

"Her outbursts do nothing but confuse me," he stated simply. Samus smiled lightly.

"You're forgetting that she was in confinement for over a year. No human contact. No kindness. Nothing but pain. If you were her, you'd probably do the exact same thing."

"Yeah, I guess," he reluctantly agreed.

To think the very year he spent with the Federation in their Elite Project, Tejed was having a good time becoming a living weapon. It was all so surreal knowing that she was the same Tejed from highschool that he almost didn't believe it. There were the little things, though. She was still shy, she still had the ear/hair habit and she still apparently loved him. It all made Gin feel sick to the stomach. How many more things was he going to botch up with his denseness?

Samus just smirked almost playfully as she watched him.

"Tejed will be fine," she said with a smile. "She may be violent but she has common sense."

"…Are you _sure_ about that?"

"I'm sure. Now about that date…"

Gin was instantly flustered.

"D-d-d-d-date?" he stuttered. He had gone red in the face. Apparently conversing with Samus when they _weren't_ 'working' was incredibly difficult.

"Why so flustered, Gin? It's just a word," said the Hunter smoothly.

"A word that implies two people…Two, _two_ people…Two people who _like_ each other going ou-ou-out _together_…"

"My god, Gin, calm down!" said Samus with a chuckle. He always seemed to get this way whenever Samus said anything even remotely relating to actual human interaction. Just trying to get him to speak English, instead of some chopped up stutter-language when she had been talking to him earlier had been almost impossible. She surmised years with the Federation had left him with about as much social skills as her. Good. They could both learn together.

"What else does the word imply?" she inquired after he had calmed. He thought for a second.

"…A…A particular month, day or year, wherein something happened or will happen…?"

Samus nodded once.

"Exactly. So think of it like that."

Gin slowly nodded and followed her out of the ship. It was a shock being out in the bright sun, after the time spent onboard his ship. Tejed was, as he had guessed, nowhere in sight. He glanced over at her gun covered excuse for a ship and sighed.

"Are you _sure_ Tejed will be alright?"

"She'll be fine, Gin. Don't worry."

Gin sighed again and hesitantly left the shipyard behind. He sure as hell hoped Samus was right.

* * *

Tejed was not fine. She was the exact opposite of fine, and Jarvis could attest to that. The first thing she had done upon boarding her ship was go into a rampage, swearing and screaming and adding a fresh volley of dents and tears to her walls. The second thing she had done was angrily take off her suit and rip off the cone.

"Stupid fucking cone!" she yelled. She proceeded to stomp on it, determined to make it one with the floor. "Because everyone knows that if she has the same _first _name, the same _last _name, and the same _knowledge _then OBVIOUSLY it's a _completely _different person! ARGH!"

"_I told you this would happen," _said the voice smugly_. "I told you, didn't I? Did I not say so? On multiple occasions? This seems like as good a time as any to kill him, Ms. Jenal. Let me out…" _

"AND YOU _FUCK OFF __**TOO**_!" she screamed at the voice, pulling on her ears as she did so. The voice was instantly quiet. It was used to anger, but that had been _anger_. It was a full five notches up from what it usually experienced, and despite itself, the voice was scared.

"_But..." _

"NO! When I say _shut the fuck up_ I EXPECT YOU to shut the FUCK _UP _before I TEAR OFF YOUR _IMAGINARY __**FACE**__!" _

The voice felt like it was about to cry and didn't say anything more. It should have calmed Tejed down, at least for a few seconds, but the absence of the voice did absolutely nothing. The pain in her broken heart was too much for her to bear and she had no idea how to deal with it, having never felt it before. Anger was the only thing she knew.

"Lady...?" started Jarvis. He was worried. Not for her, of course, but for himself. Tejed instantly chucked a piece of steel junk at the viewscreen with a sickening crunch, sending a large spiderweb shaped crack snaking across it. If Jarvis had a physical body to go by he would have flinched. Instead he gasped in shock.

"My viewscreen!"

"_FUCK_ _THE_ _VIEWSCREEN_!"

For a moment Jarvis' revised programming switched off and he was old sarcastic Jarvis again.

"Quit throwing junk at me, you zoo animal, or I'll get the Federation on your ass!"

Tejed stopped and glared at his camera, her whole body shuddering from her anger. Slowly she started laughing and picked up another shard of steel. She really did have to clean up her ship one of these days, the junk was practically everywhere.

"I'm a zoo animal, am I?" she inquired lowly. "Is that what I am? Is that what I look like? Is that what I _come off as_? Do you think that's where I _belong_, Jarvis? BEHIND A LOCKED DOOR WHERE EVERYONE CAN _POINT _AND_ LAUGH_ AT ME?"

"That's exactly where you belong!" retorted the computer. "Now go take a bath or something, you filthy beast. The accumulated years of blood and grime is starting to fester."

Without hesitation she chucked the second one at him, narrowly missing his camera eye and leaving another huge dent in the wall. As quickly as it had switched off, his revised programming switched back on. Jarvis gasped and withdrew back into himself.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered timidly.

Though she was loathe to admit it, Tejed's mind worked in much the same way as Jarvis' programming. The moment he apologized Tejed changed to intense sorrow and it was a serious feat of will to keep herself from breaking down into tears. She fell to her knees and clutched at her chest, distraught.

"Why the hell did all this decide to happen to _me_?" she sobbed. "Why did the planets decided to align in just the right way that I would become _this_?"

Tejed needed human comfort. She needed a hug or a caress; she needed someone to tell her everything would be alright. Unfortunately she wasn't getting that any time soon. The voice timidly tried to start up its chatter again.

"_...I see you're very distraught, Ms. Jenal. I could help...If you...Please...Let me out...?" _

"I thought I told _you to FUCK __**OFF**_!" she screeched, angry again. The voice promptly scurried off to some far off part of her mind, its imaginary tail tucked between its equally imaginary legs.

"Why don't you go get drunk or something?" offered Jarvis sadly. "Maybe for a few precious minutes you'll forget everything. If you do, I envy you."

Tejed still hurt, that much was certain. Tears streaked her face but she was no longer sad, and shakily she climbed back to her feet.

"Will it dull the _pain_?" she rasped.

"Eh, probably," replied the computer.

"I'm going out, then."

She grabbed her comm. device, her holster, and her laser pistol and started purposely towards the door. There was a bar a mere block from the shipyard. Tejed had never drunk anything alcoholic before in her life, but this pain was too much for her and she was about ready to try anything. Maybe after she would feel a bit better about looking in the mirror, as well.

"Wha? Wait!" cried Jarvis. Tejed stopped at the door and turned to him. She didn't say anything, she just glared balefully, awaiting his no doubt self centered question. Jarvis faltered for a moment.

"You can't go out without your suit," he said, with the tiniest little hint of emotion. "You're almost a space pirate, people will call the Federation, you'll be executed!"

"What the fuck do you care?" she snarled.

"...I don't, really," he replied quickly. "I just don't want you to get executed. Who else would pilot me?"

"I'm going out," she repeated lowly. "I'm sick and tired of hiding in this ship, and I'm sick and tired of hiding behind my visor. I want the _entire_ _city_ to see what the pirate's have created, and I want to see their reactions. It's time for an uprising. _No more hiding_."

"Yeah, but..."

Tejed was gone. Jarvis sighed and shut himself down. Whatever shit was going to hit the fan, he sure as hell didn't want to be part of it.

* * *

"Tell me about yourself, Gin."

"I-I've already told you everything," he started shakily. Already he was degenerating into a stuttering mess. Samus just smiled at him.

"I don't mean about the Federation," she said softly. "I mean about _you_."

"Well," he started uncertainly. He sorely wanted to run back to his ship and go on a bounty or something, anything except being here with Samus. The poor guy was just so inept when it came to talking to her that half the time he felt like she was secretly laughing at him. He cleared his throat and started again.

"I…I'm an Australian fraud, if…If that's even something worth…Telling…"

She cocked an eyebrow.

"Do tell."

"I…Lied about living in Australia. Was born on a colony on Jupiter. I've never even set foot in Australia. Lived there for the first fifteen years of my life until my family decided to move to Earth."

Despite himself, it felt good to finally divulge his rather convoluted past in someone that wasn't his long lost brother. And Samus seemed genuinely interested, too.

"But Jupiter was lost years ago," she said calmly. "It's nothing but a one huge planetary space station, now. Owned by the Federation, of course."

Gin groaned at the old memories. Samus slowed to a stop beside a small cafe and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Would you like to sit down?"

Gin nodded as he tried to repress the memories. No success. A rapid fire succession of old images had come unwanted back to his mind, and were playing against the backs of his eyelids like forgotten films. He shuddered as he tried to ignore them and shakily sat down.

"Are you alright, Gin?" asked Samus. She had sat down beside him and sounded genuinely worried.

"I'm fine," he replied, managing to push the images away.

"Would you like to talk about it?" suggested Samus warmly. "You seem to keep a lot of secrets. Getting them off your chest could do you a world of good."

Gin took a few deep breaths and opened his eyes again, suddenly noticing how close Samus was sitting to him. Almost instantly he felt awkward and uncomfortable and made a failed effort to scoot over a few feet. She just shook her head and moved to the other side of the table.

"Drinks?"

They both looked up at the same time, Gin looking startled and Samus looking as calm as ever. Gin mumbled something unintelligible. When it came to socializing, he was about as blessed as Tejed. Smiling wryly Samus took over the conversation.

"Water will be fine," she said gently. The waiter bowed lightly and left.

"It was the Darkmass bomb," said Gin suddenly. He looked sick to the stomach. Samus leaned forwards and leaned her head on her hands. "Me and Vince invented the damn thing in our spare time, as a 'just in case' weapon, ya know? We never actually thought it would be used, much less in war. Hell, we had never even tested it. As far as we knew, it was a dud."

The waiter came back with two glasses of water and set them on the table. Gin quickly took a few quick gulps to sooth his upset stomach.

"So we went to war, of course. What else does the Federation do these days, except go to war?" He paused for a moment. "This was years down the road, after I was an Elite for a few months. There was a pirate raid on Jupiter. Of course there was, I had said at the time. It's always a pirate raid. It's like the damn things have nothing better to do except raid things.

"So there we were, me and Vince and the entire EPSiLoN unit, along with a few others, decimating the pirates on a Jupiter outpost. And that's when we realized it wasn't just a small raiding party, it was an entire fleet, battle ship and all. Vince let slip about the bomb, and the Federation ordered me to detonate it. When I refused, scared because, of course, it had never been tested, they ordered me again, at gunpoint. I couldn't say no."

When Gin opened up, he sure as hell opened up, mused Samus idly. It was almost as if her presence had opened some tap that he hadn't touched for years.

"That's when we realized that it wasn't a bomb we had detonated, it was a singularity," he continued quietly. "And not just any singularity, oh no, one that ripped into the very fabric of space and time for the few seconds that it was alive. And the worst thing about the whole ordeal wasn't realizing the Federation was corrupt, nor was it seeing the devastation I had unknowingly created. There were still people on that outpost, entire families torn to molecular shreds in the wake of the singularity. I still remember one of them, a small girl named Sarah."

He shook his head slowly.

"She held my hand when I was there, asked me if everything would be alright. For a brief moment the serum the Federation gave me faltered and I smiled at her. 'Everything will be fine', I had said. 'We'll get you out of here, I promise'. I never saw her again."

He snorted angrily and took another small sip of the water.

"Ever since then I've felt like I've done nothing except let her down. Until I can avenge her, I'll always be a monster."

Samus chuckled lightly.

"You're not a monster, Gin," she said gently. Her water lay untouched in front of her. He merely scowled.

"I willingly killed people that didn't do anything, all because the Federation implanted the view in my brain that they were all threats. Threats to what? Hell, I'm net even sure the Federation knew. I think they just wanted to set their unholy creations free and watch them reek glorious havoc, all in the name of the Federation. The pirates, I can understand. Send us after them, maybe we can do something. The civilians? I'll never understand that. Not even when I die."

"Okay, so maybe you were a monster, but you aren't _now_, now are you?"

"Eh, until someone can get me a permanent antidote to the Physeter they injected into me, I'll always be what _they_ created."

"Physeter?"

"Oh, didn't I mention?" replied Gin sarcastically. "Experimental super-soldier drugs _always_ have stupid names. This one in particular was called Physeter 095. To this day I have _no_ _idea_ where the Federation gets their names from."

Grumbling angrily he set the glass back down and stared into it. Why did conversations always manage to slide towards the Federation? He hated talking about it, though it did feel good to tell Samus everything. It felt as though a heavy weight had finally been lifted from his chest and he could almost breath again.

"Anything else you want to know about the Federation? You know, while we're still on the subject?" he asked with a sigh, looking back up. Samus thought for a moment, scrutinizing him as she did so. Briefly she noted how tired Gin looked. Years of being a Federation guinea pig must have taken a toll on him. And he was only twenty eight years old. He was still young. He shouldn't look this tired.

"Are you _sure_ Tejed's alright?" he asked suddenly. What he had done to her was gnawing at his consciousness and made him feel sick.

"I'm sure she's fine," responded the Hunter. Gin didn't really believe her; he had known Tejed far better than Samus ever had; but he didn't say anything more. The Hybrid did have some common sense left in her mutated skull, he did give her that much. Maybe she had decided to let it pass and she was sleeping it off or something.

"What were your team-mate's names?" she inquired, still interested in the Federation.

"Oh god, that was so long ago," he muttered. He slowly shook his head, wracked his minds for details. "I…I only remember their code names, not their real names."

Samus looked at him encouragingly.

"Uh…There was Alpha Tiger, 00…2, I think he was," he started slowly, the memories slowly coming back. "Then there was a bear, Gamma, number 003. Zeta Hawk, 005, and Beta Wolf…002. Scratch that, Alpha Tiger was 004, not 002. And then there was my brother, Delta Fox 001, right after me, number 000."

Gin wasn't sure if he should've been proud or sad that he had remembered all their names. He decided on sad.

"What were their roles?"

"Oh god, seriously?" he said with an exasperated tone. "Okay, give me a moment, here. Uh…well I know right off the bat that Vince was all about long distance, you know, sniping and all that. I think Zeta Hawk was the field medic, and Gamma Bear, judging by his name, was Mr. Heavy Weapons guy." Gin chuckled. "I think he was German, too. Very fitting, in a…Horribly stereotypical sort of way."

He thought for a second.

"Beta…Wolf…She was the spy, if I remember correctly. And that leaves the Tiger. I think he was almost matched with me, what with the whole close quarter combat specialties. He also collected all of our information and was damn good with a map."

"What happened to them?"

"…They…They all died," stated Gin simply. He shrugged helplessly. "First ever Elite Team, EPSiLoN, and everyone died. Hell, the Federation even thinks I'm dead, too. I did, after all, stage my own death just to get out of that scientific hellhole."

"…And you're bother…? Vince…?"

"Yeah," said Gin with a sad nod. "He's dead, too."

Silence. Despite the loudness of the café around them, of the entire city around them, the two hunters were bathed in cold silence. Gin welcomed it, used to it. Samus welcomed it too, saw it as a good old friend. Good thing Tejed wasn't here, she wouldn't have welcomed it, she would've angrily chased it off.

"Which do you prefer, Gin?" asked Samus quietly. She was still staring at him and Gin blushed, unsure what she was getting at. Why did she have to ruin the silence, he wondered? It was nice.

"I…I'm not sure I follow."

"Names," she replied curtly. "Should I call you Gin, or should I call you Vaughn?"

"Gin," he replied quickly. "Vaughn Masters died when he left the Federation. I legally changed my name to avoid capture. My name is Gin, not Vaughn."

A few men walked by, laughing loudly as they passed. When they caught sight of Samus, sitting there with Gin in a simple top and a pair of pants, they started laughing and pointing, making lewd comments as they did so. Gin glared at them until they passed, resisting the urge to leap over the table and wail on them.

"What's this I see?" commented Samus, the tiniest bit of humour creeping into her voice. "Did the Gin sitting in the other side of the table just get…_Protective_ over me?"

Instantly he went on the defensive.

"What? No! Whatever gives you that…_Totally_ unfounded idea?"

"You looked like you were about to kill them," she replied. Gin sighed, defeated.

"I hate jerks like that," he said quietly. "They have no respect for anyone and unfortunately there's too many of 'em on this planet."

"I'm used to it," stated the Hunter. "I ignore them. And if they decide to get close, well, you're forgetting that I'm a bounty hunter."

She smiled at him. It was also one of the reasons she stayed so distant from the rest of humanity. The human race was, as Gin had so eloquently put it, full of jerks. Apparently they weren't all jerks, as evidenced by both Adam and now Gin, so that put a little hope in her heart.

"Why don't we change the subject," sighed Gin. "Why don't we talk about your life?"

Samus smiled.

"Why don't we?"

* * *

The doors to the bar whined on dejected hinges as they burst open. The once boisterous conversation instantly stopped and all eyes turned towards it. Tejed glowered at them from the door, her dully glowing yellow eyes sweeping slowly over everyone, taking it all in. She snorted, already hating the way everyone stared at her. Well, she thought sullenly. There's no doubt that this is going to be…Interesting. Slowly she approached the main counter, everyone's eyes still on her. The only sound was the thin mechanical squeaking of her legs. No one even dared to whisper.

Still glaring she reached the main counter, and the barkeep that was stationed behind it. He was trembling, as though terrified of her. She didn't blame him for a second. It was her choice to come here without her suit, and she did not regret it. For a brief second she had to wonder if this had been a bad idea, after all. But she was still in pain, intense pain, and she was willing to do anything to quell it, if at least for a few moments.

Something clattered behind her and like a flash of lighting she had turned towards it, ears quivering as she pinpointed the sound. A rather large patron near her had fumbled with his glass and dropped it. When he saw she was looking straight at him he instantly raised his hands.

"D-don't hurt m-me," he whispered. His bottom lip quivered and unconsciously Tejed's upper lip pulled into a derisive sneer, revealing her decaying teeth. It just terrified him even more.

There was a distinct click and Tejed looked back at the barkeep. He had a laser shotgun trained between her eyes. He still looked terrified but now he also looked determined. Against her better judgement Tejed growled.

"Get out," croaked the barkeep. "Get the hell out of my bar, you filthy Pirate, before I blow your head off."

Tejed smiled sadistically. His finger trembled on the trigger. Still smiling she leaned heavily on the counter top, the wood groaning from her weight. The barkeep instantly backed up but still kept the weapon on her. The entire bar was dead quiet.

"And I would get out of your bar," she replied, for once amused by the reaction her raspy voice enacted in him. "If I _were _a Space Pirate."

Her grin had dissolved into a murderous scowl and with a heavy breath she leaned in closer. The barkeep had backed himself into a wall and had nowhere to go. He looked about ready to piss his pants.

"I came here for alcohol," she continued lowly. Despite her attempt at a quiet voice it echoed around the whole building. "I came here to forget: to forget what I see every time I look into a mirror, to forget the horrible noises that come out of what once was a human mouth whenever I attempt to speak, and to forget the circumstances that landed me here, like _this_."

To emphasize her point she had drawn a three clawed hand across her scars, snarling as she did so. The barkeep gulped but kept the shotgun trained on her.

"But most of all, I came here to forget the horrible injustice that was wrought against me, that shattered my heart and left me with nothing but _pain_. I may be clinically insane but I mean no harm to anyone here, only to the filthy creatures that did _this_ to me. So please, give me what I want, and I won't hurt anyone."

"_You'll _try _not to hurt anyone…" _corrected the voice timidly. Apparently it had crawled back up from the pit it had been hiding in. She ignored it.

Reluctantly the barkeep lowered his weapon. Low muttering had started up among the customers and awkwardly Tejed half turned to them, just enough so that they knew she heard. Instantly the conversation stopped. Tejed smiled. She liked that.

"Wh-what'll it be?" stuttered the barkeep. Still smiling Tejed straightened again and turned back to him.

"The strongest stuff you have. Don't hold back."

Quickly the barkeep went to work. Tejed turned back to the customers again, this time seeing just who she was in here with. There was a gang of bikers closer to her, each one sporting a different weapon around the waist. They looked at her like they were about ready to beat her to a pulp. Let them try. There was a family near the back: two parents and some kids. Just because it was a bar didn't mean they had to drink. They looked terrified and distressed. And then there was the fat man closest to her. He had decided not to look at her and was trying his best not to cry.

For a moment Tejed was sad. She never got these kinds of reactions before. Terror? Distress? Sorrow? They were the last things on her mind when she had been human. To walk into a room full of people, _humans_, and instantly have to room go silent was almost too much to bear. It twisted the remnants of her broken heart and made her feel even worse.

Then she remembered Gin. That damnable Aussie. 'I don't like Tejed like _that_,' he had said, without care for her feelings. 'I only like her as a friend. I like _you_ like that, Samus'. Her mouth tasted like metal. She finally knew what brought on that filthy taste: her hate. Hate for the pirates, for what they had done, but now for Gin, as well. For taking her heart and curbstomping it.

Unknowingly she had started growling and she felt her face twitching. Quickly she silenced it and glared at everyone, daring them to so much as utter a peep. Nothing. No sound. Good.

"Here you go…Sir," mumbled the barkeep. Tejed chuckled as he put the drink on the counter, amused by his assumption.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm a woman," she corrected as she took the mug. The barkeep looked utterly flabbergasted, then horribly humiliated. And he still looked like he was going to pee his pants. All too quickly Tejed's mood fell. "At least, I _was._"

She turned back to the room for a third time. Almost all the tables were full, save for one in the far back, pushed into a dark and dejected corner and covered with cobwebs. Tejed smiled. Perfect. Something away from everyone else, where she could just melt into a puddle of sorrow and not even care.

The gang glared at her as she started towards the table. Apparently they were under the impression she was bad news. They were right. The family looked terrified, the parents holding their children close. Mayhap they had lost family members in a pirate raid. The thought put Tejed close to tears. The fat man still looked close to crying but he staved it in. He had a strong will, even if he was a pansy.

With a heavy sigh Tejed reached the table and sat down. The chair, though strong, creaked as she sat. _Damn cybernetics_, she thought sullenly. _Increase _my_ weight by a couple hundred pounds, will you? _She set the mug down in front of herself and sighed again, this time letting it dwindle into an insect-like chitter. She let her hard façade drop into an almost sad expression and watched the other patrons.

Now that she had sat down they had broken into conversation again. Granted it was quiet conversation, but the fact that they were talking despite her being there must have meant something. She looked back at the mug. The liquid inside was crystal clear. For a moment she was dubious as to the alcohol's authenticity. Curious she picked up the mug and swished it around before taking a hesitant sip.

It tasted bitter and burned her throat like liquid fire. As quickly as she had drunk it she coughed it back up. It left a horrible taste in her mouth and she glared at the mug, her segmented tongue hanging halfway out of her mouth. One of the children over at the family's table was giggling at her and she shot him a glare. The little bastard instantly shut up.

"Stupid fucking alcohol," she muttered angrily.

By now the conversation had almost increased back to its original pitch and that made Tejed happy. It meant they had accepted the fact that she was here enough to continue with their talking. Now if only she could accept the fact that there was exactly one Gin Phoenix gallivanting around the city with exactly one Samus Aran. And the Tejed Jenal stuck here hadn't been invited.

Scowling she took another swig, this time prepared for its tendency to burn. And burn it did, all the way down her throat and through to her stomach. She slammed the mug down on the table and buried her head in her arms, momentarily silencing the conversation before it started up again.

Now that she had actually drank the blasted stuff it actually wasn't all that bad. The initial shock had worn off and now she felt almost pleasant. It left a warm glow in her stomach. Still with that scowl on her face she sat back up and took another drink, this time more comfortable. She leaned back in her chair, content for the moment.

The gang seemed to have relaxed slightly, but they still looked suspicious. The family was still on edge. The children, though, seemed not to care. The fat man had broken down into inconsolable sobbing.

Sighing she took another swig, all too soon emptying the mug. She glared into its empty depths, not impressed in the least by it. This was the strongest stuff they had? So far all it had done was burn her throat and leave a bitter taste in her mouth. Maybe it made her feel a _tiny_ bit better, but that was only a tiny bit. Maybe all the people she had known when she had been human had been lying when they said it made you forget.

With a sigh she stood again, the chair legs scraping noisily against the ground as she pushed it back. The quiet drabble immediately stopped and one of the gang members stood as well, a hand to his waist. Tejed merely rolled her eyes.

"I'm getting more alcohol," she said bluntly, pointing to the empty mug. "No need to start a riot."

He stayed tensed and muttering to herself she approached the counter again, his eyes boring into the back of her head. The barkeep quickly refilled it and she started back again, stopping by the fat man.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. He quickly looked up only to burst into tears again. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

Without another word she went back to her table and sat again, the gang member sitting as well. He glared at her but she ignored it. The fat man's sobbing had ceased and Tejed absently smiled. She really hadn't meant to frighten him. She hadn't meant to frighten anyone. She just came here to forget, to dull the pain.

With yet another sigh she leaned back farther on the chair and put her feet up on the table, this time determined to make the drink last before she had to get up again. The chair squeaked loudly under her weight but held, causing the same gang member to stand again and glare hard at her. She scowled back. Did he have a death wish or something?

"What? The chair is squeaky," she said loudly, above the rising conversation. "I'm not causing any harm, I'm stuck in a god damned _neck_ _brace_, for crying out loud. _You're_ the one instigating."

The voice snickered at her ironic choice of words. The gang member hesitated before one of his friends pulled him down. Tejed sneered at him before turning her attention to her feet. She flexed her mechanical toes, their wicked curved claws trailing lazy arcs through the air. She had killed many creatures with her feet alone. They were vicious weapons, as she had found out. Powered by thick pistons and phazon, she could easily kick through steel three feet thick if she so wanted to. And if she could rend thick steel in twain, just think of what her feet could do to a scrawny Space Pirate…

She was thinking about Space Pirates again. Zebesians. _Urtragians_. However many names they went by, now was not the time to be thinking of them. It only managed to anger her and before she could degenerate into a fit of rage she quickly took another swig of the liquid fire. Its burning made her forget about them. She growled low in her throat like a feral dog as she slowly forgot, pleased at the low gravely sound she could produce.

Something tugged gently on one of her antennae. That was strange, she thought slowly, the alcohol finally starting to take effect. Who in their right mind would get close enough to her to actually touch one of her antennae? The tugging continued, soft and insistent, and she turned awkwardly so she could look down. The girl from the family's table was there, looking up at her curiously.

"Mommy says you're a Space Pirate," she said. She couldn't have been older than eight. "Are you a Space Pirate?"

Tejed considered for a moment and glanced up at their table. They didn't seem to notice their daughter was over here, with the freakish hybrid. Gently she placed the mug on the table and folded her hands across her lap, for a moment forgetting her current qualms with Gin.

"No, I'm not a Space Pirate," she said gently. The girl was silent for a moment.

"Are you a person?"

"No, I'm not a person, either," she replied, smiling slightly. The little girl's curiosity was charming, in its own way. It calmed her even more than Gin's touch ever had and left her feeling content, without any anger or sorrow to bother her. Or maybe that was just the alcohol. Either way she was never gripped with the urge to rip children to shreds, like she was with pretty much everyone else. It was actually quite amazing.

"Grandma was killed by Space Pirates," the girl said quietly. Tejed's smile faded into a sad expression. She knew it had something to do with the insectoid bastards.

"…Do you miss her?"

The girl nodded, close to tears. Tejed quickly glanced around the room before carefully putting her feet down and awkwardly clambering off the chair, kneeling down to the girl's level.

"Would you like a hug?" she asked quietly. The girl nodded and Tejed opened her arms to embrace her. The girl accepted. It always amazed her how of all the people on Earth, children were the only ones who were almost never afraid of her. Their innocence was their power, and Tejed envied that.

"I'll do everything in my power to get back at them," said Tejed in the girl's ear. "For your grandma. For your parents. For you. I promise."

Despite what she expected, the girl did not cry. She had a strong will, noted Tejed. Gently she pulled back and looked down at the girl.

"My name is Tejed. What's yours?"

"…Sarah."

Tejed looked up at the family's table. They had now noticed their daughter was missing and were looking around franticly for her. Tejed stood back up and get back on the chair, surprised the flimsy thing hadn't broken yet. Sarah looked up at her with big eyes and Tejed sighed. Sarah's father caught sight of her over by the hybrid and quickly came over.

"Sarah!" he said happily, quickly taking her up in his arms. He looked angrily at Tejed, like he was ready to kill her without a moments notice. Just because he had heard her little speech about not being a Space Pirate when she first came here, didn't mean he had to trust her.

"What did you do to her?" he seethed. If she had hurt Sarah in any way…

"I made her a promise," she replied bluntly, reaching forward to take the mug again. The man looked utterly confused. Sarah was still staring at her.

"A…Promise?" he muttered caught off guard by her unexpected reply. Tejed looked at him sadly.

"A promise to kill the ones who ruined your life."

He understood immediately. No longer angry at her he put Sarah down and returned the hybrid's sad look.

"Thank you," he whispered before walking away, Sarah in tow. Tejed watched them sit back down at the table and sighed.

"You're welcome."

She promptly took another gulp, pleased at the warm feeling it brought, and closed her eyes. Slowly, and she meant _slowly,_ the alcohol was starting to take effect, and only after two mug-fulls. It was still only a vague warm feeling, but it was better than nothing. Her altered biology probably warranted a lot more than the average person, anyhow. Hell it was the same way with drugs. If anyone wanted to drug her up they needed to use a _lot_ of 'em just to make her somewhat woozy.

"Stupid fucking Pirate biology," she muttered. "Pump up _my_ resistance to alcohol, will you? I wonder how much more I have to drink before I fall asleep and wake up with a pounding headache?"

The bar had grown back to its original volume. Tejed smiled as she watched everyone. The gang still looked suspicious and the same guy kept glancing over at her. Pfft, weenie. The family was considerably more happy, as though what she had said had given them hope. That made her feel good. It almost cancelled out the pain. The fat man had stopped his crying and had engaged another patron in friendly conversation. Good on him.

"Would…Would you like a refill?"

Startled, Tejed almost fell out of her chair. It creaked in response but held. The barkeep was standing a respectable distance from her table, awaiting her response. He kept eyeing her taloned feet but didn't say anything. She relaxed slightly and looked back into the mug. It was, as she had discovered, empty.

"…Yeah, sure."

Hesitantly he took her mug and scampered back to the counter. Tejed watched him hover around before he came back, the mug once again full. He seemed surprised that she could hold so much without feeling any effects. Face as blank as a slate she took it and watched him leave again.

"…Thank you," she called after his retreating back. He paused and half turned before slowly walking back to the counter. Grumbling Tejed took an extra long gulp, draining more than half the mug as she did so. Some of it managed, as always, to leak out her bottom jaw, where it accumulated on her chin with the rest of her drool. Scowling she dug in her pocket for a tissue and wiped it off.

She hated her bottom jaw. It was so…_inhuman_. Too much like a Space Pirate. It filled Gin with disgust, it filled everyone else with fear, and it only served to remind her of what she was. Ah, well. Absently she opened the damnable thing and gave her double jointed mandibles a good stretch. Her right mandible was still sore and stiff. The left mandible, on the other hand, issued a loud pop when she stretched it to its full limit, and that was satisfying.

Not about ready to close her jaw just jet, she grabbed the right one and pulled it until it popped, too, fingering her teeth as she did so. She had no molars, nothing to chew with, only sharp little canines meant for grabbing and tearing. And what teeth she did have were stained a sickly yellow and green with a splash of red from her habit of killing Pirates, and anyone else who got in her way, with her teeth. Ripping out arteries and organs was very satisfying, especially when done with natural weapons. That didn't mean she liked them, of course.

Suddenly her comm. device started an incessant alarm, so sudden that she stumbled and the chair finally broke, sending her to the ground with a loud crack.

"Ow," she muttered miserably, closing her double jointed jaw.

The conversation stopped and all eyes turned to her. Dejectedly she stood again and stretched, her spine popping in five different places, and answered the comm. device.

It was a new bounty. A pirate frigate off in some far off corner of the galaxy. Her expression became surly and her eyes flared in brightness. Finally, something to kill. Something to _really_ let her pain loose on. The fact that she was half drunk was a mere setback. Growling she finished the drink in one go and headed back to the door, all eyes still trained on her.

"Wait!" called the barkeep. Tejed stopped at the door and looked at him. He faltered under her steely gaze but found the courage to speak. "You can't just leave without paying."

Of course, she thought slowly, money. She had been too caught up in bloodlust to remember that she needed to pay. The gang watched her with new interest, as though this was the deciding factor of whether or not she was bad news. She approached the counter again, and the barkeep stationed there.

"How much?" she asked quietly, for once not wanting to instigate a fight.

"Th-that'll be three hundred credits…Ma'am."

She chuckled at the term. It was so…Unfitting.

"Why so expensive?" she inquired curiously. It wasn't that she didn't have enough, she was just curious. The barkeep apparently did not expect such a question from such a…Terrifying customer. He was silent for a moment before he found his voice and answered.

"It's our rarest stuff," he answered quietly. "Hard to get, hard to make, and hard to sell. You're the first one who's ever ordered any in decades."

"Hmm, I see."

Tejed accessed her comm. device and sent him an even five hundred credits. He looked at the number and was momentarily taken aback. Tejed just smiled at him.

"It's for accepting a freak like me," she explained gently. "You have no idea how good it felt to sit in here, with other people, and not feel like a reject. You made an illegal Space Pirate experiment feel…Almost human again."

He didn't respond and she chuckled.

"I just may have to come back again," she continued. "I like the atmosphere here, and your alcohol is very good. Didn't drink enough, though. I'm still awake. And…It still hurts…"

She turned again to leave, only to have him call her back again.

"What's your name?" he inquired curiously. She contemplated whether or not she should tell him before settling on an answer.

"Tejed Jenal. Bounty hunter."

Still smiling she quickly left. She may have been only half drunk, but it was enough to keep her from wondering why Federation officials had never shown up. Surely a seven foot tall space pirate hybrid was more than enough to draw attention? Especially by a corrupt government that kind of wanted her back, and pretty soon, too? And it was.

The very same gang member, the one who had seemed the most interested in her, had accessed his own personal communicator, and was currently sending a message to Jim Shaw. Their undercover team had just sighted Project TransFuse, and apparently it was heading off towards the other side of the galaxy.

Their orders? Sit back, wait, observe. TransFuse was unpredictable and violent at best, and the last thing they wanted was to start a war. The Federation would get her, in time.

* * *

"So, uh…how about your family, eh? What're they like?"

"Everyone I've ever known or cared about died in a pirate raid on K2-L and I was the only survivor."

Gin was at a loss for words, both for her story and his stupidity. Briefly he wondered what had possessed him to talk about her life. Considering her current position, she had probably been through worse than him. Apparently he was right. So he did what any sane Gin would do when he had done something horribly stupid. He facepalmed. The same three words ran circles around his head: _I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid. _The words from his mouth, though, were radically different.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered as he looked up. Samus' expression was hard to read and for a moment Gin was absolutely sure that she hated him.

"It's alright," she replied, unreadable expression breaking into a small smile. Gin shyly smiled back, relieved that he had not insulted her.

"So, uh…" he started again. Gin liked silence, but when it came to awkward ones between two people, he couldn't stand them, especially when the other person was of the opposite gender. That and he felt like an idiot, so he had to rectify his mistake somehow. Would inane chatter work? He sure as hell hoped so. Samus merely stared at him curiously.

"How long have you been…I mean…bounty hunter and all…"

"Ever since that raid on K2-L."

Her voice was without emotion and Gin bit his tongue again.

"I'm sorry, I mean, I just have to talk and I didn't mean to-"

He was interrupted by light laughter.

"Calm down, Gin. I was just fooling with you." Her voice was light and melodic, like the exact opposite of Tejed's. Wherein Tejed said whatever came to her mind Samus seemed to actually think before she spoke. When she did speak it was calm and measured and never in a hurry.

"You talk a lot, you know that?"

Gin blushed slightly.

"Tejed has told me the same thing on more than one occasion."

She laughed again and Gin wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh along with her or melt into his seat unnoticed. He decided to do the only thing he knew how: talk.

"Every time Tejed tells me that I tend to just talk some more but she always tells me to shut up or glares at me or something like that and here you are and you did nothing of the sort you just…laughed." He paused and looked at her. "…no one's ever laughed."

She merely smiled and finally took a sip of her water, calculating her words.

"I wouldn't say I was _no one._"

"Gah! No, I meant-"

"-Calm down, hunter. You're trying too hard. I know exactly what you meant."

Gin took a breath and put his head in his hands, not realizing until now he had been sweating. His face was probably red, too. Why was he at such a loss with Samus? It had been so easy to talk to her when they were both 'working', it had even been easy when the conversation had been centered around him, but now that she sat in front of him in nothing but street clothes, the conversation having moved to her, he found it was getting increasingly harder to speak coherently.

"Are you alright, Mr. Phoenix?" she inquired idly, almost playfully. Gin looked back up. She was eyeing him curiously, a good-natured smirk on her face, as though she was enjoying this.

"I-I find it hard to form coherent sentences around you." He cursed himself, did he actually stutter?

"A lot of people do, but for entirely different reasons."

Something started beeping and quickly Gin dug through his clothes until he found his communicator. Who the hell wanted him now, he wondered absently. It was probably a bounty; the Federation had an annoying habit of sending him stuff when he was busy. When he switched it on he was surprised to find Tejed staring balefully at him. Instantly he blushed.

"Tejed, I-"

"-Quit the stutter-speak, Gin," she snapped angrily. It appeared that she was in a pirate vessel, but she seemed for the moment to be alone. Gin hoped this wasn't some sort of elaborate form of payback, and for a moment he was annoyed by the fact that she had called him in the middle of his date. "Does this face look familiar?"

She turned her communicator towards a terminal she was standing by, and Gin gasped. Portrayed therein was a picture of his brother, Vince, though the man looked far different from what Gin had remembered. He looked gaunt and thin, as though he hadn't eaten any proper food in far too long, and his eyes, though still the same shades of blue and green that they had always been, were missing some crucial spark. The man looked close to death.

"Oh god, Vince!" breathed Gin. Curious, Samus peered over. The communicator panned back to Tejed.

"He's on this vessel," she said quietly. She still sounded angry and hurt but she contained it. This was far more important than her emotional pain. "We can save him, if you get your backstabbing ass over here."

"He's alive?" gasped Gin, still in shock from the discovery. As far as he knew, Vince had died a horrible death while he was still with EPSiLoN, along with everyone else.

"But…Why would _you_ care about _my_ brother?" Gin asked suspiciously, sure that she was hiding something. Tejed breathed heavily, her next words laden with emotion.

"Because my sister is here, too."


	11. Chapter 11

_Two weeks. Exactly two weeks since they gave me their experimental drug. I'm not going to lie, I love it. I love the way it pumps up my strength and my endurance, my senses and my reflexes. They even gave me a fancy suit just for it. There's only one thing that's bothering me. I think…I think I'm losing my mind. I shouldn't be surprised, they warned me I was the prototype and they never tested it, but…Damn, this is actually terrifying. Just yesterday I lashed out angrily at one of the techs, almost killing him in the process. I couldn't control myself at the time, I was gripped with such hatred towards him. All I wanted to do at the time was…Was rip him to shreds. With my own hands. And the scary part? The part that haunts me, makes me feel like a monster? At the time I enjoyed it. What has the Federation done to me?_

_-Vaughn Masters

* * *

_

Tejed had decided not to be obnoxiously loud and violent. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was still kind of tipsy from the alcohol. Every time she stood up too fast she'd experience a bout of dizziness and her head had started to hurt. It wasn't easy to stay quiet, of course, despite her apparent drunkenness. She had come to this particular frigate with nothing but murder on her mind, and murder was what she had been itching to wreak. Keeping her anger at Gin suppressed was not a simple task and she had taken to chewing angrily on her arm out of sheer frustration. Why did it have to be so ungodly difficult to stay in the shadows and out of the action?

A pair of pirates ran by, chirping excitedly. Quickly Tejed withdrew back into her darkened corner, hoping she wouldn't be seen. Nothing. They continued by. Why the hell did her sister have to be here, of all places, she wondered sullenly. Now the hybrid couldn't do what she wanted without attracting attention and possibly getting her sister killed in the resulting blood bath. She had been searching for her sister for months after the woman had disappeared and it would be very…Anti-climactic if she went and died now.

What scared Tejed the most, though, was how she had gone for months after her escape without so much as a stray thought about her sister. Maybe it was the insanity clouding her mind. She _did_ have a lot of crap to deal with these days; she couldn't be expected to remember everything. And her memory was still half missing, as evidenced by the fact that she _still_ had no idea what had caused her scars. But that was beside the point. Now that her sorry excuse for a hole filled memory had been jolted, she had a job to do. And unfortunately it didn't involve blood and gore.

Resisting the urge to talk to herself she emerged from her hidey hole and looked around, stumbling slightly as she stood. The coast was clear, no pirates for as far as she could see, and she didn't hear any, either. Good. Time to get to looking. Although the pirates mentioned her sister in their logs, none of them said where she was. No matter, Tejed would find her. And she would kill anyone who got in her way.

There was something about this vessel, this frigate, that rubbed Tejed the wrong way and she didn't quite know what it was. Maybe it was that abhorrent wailing that managed to leak up from the grates, from some deep area far down in the bowels of this overly huge frigate. Maybe it was the way everything was so untouched, so eerily calm. There was a thin layer of dust coating almost everything, but the coating was untouched, pristine in a filthy sort of way. It even served as a sort of buffer, dulling down the frigate's odour and rendering Tejed's sense of smell almost useless. Every time she tried to sniff out a pirate all she got was a nose full of musty, bitter smelling dust. It was starting to make her eyes water and she almost went to put on her helmet. Oh, wait. Neck brace. Never mind.

It was odd how even though she saw pirates every once in a while, they left everything so untouched. They never put their hands on anything, it seemed, except for consoles and terminals. Everything else might as well have been nonexistent to them.

And what the hell was the source of that hideous wailing? It melded a little too perfectly into the old frigate's own creaking and groaning, and more than half the time Tejed wasn't quite sure if she was hearing the frigate or some unknown beast. Oh god, it was a talker, she realized with a groan. She hated talkers. Back when she was human she had loved the stories her father had told her, wondered what it would be like to set foot on one, to hear its decades old stories. Back then the idea had seemed amazing to her. Now it was annoying. The talker's groan and creaks were taxing enough as is, its battered hull popping from unknown strains when she least expected it, but it was what the frigate was saying that unnerved her the most. It spoke of illegal experiments and unholy ideals, of creatures dying in the name of twisted science and things that shouldn't be alive with hearts that pumped poison.

It spoke of Tejed's warped excuse for a life, and the more she listened, the angrier she got. And the angrier she got, the more her head hurt. And the more her head hurt, the more she remembered she shouldn't get angry. It was actually quite a nice little cycle. She made a mental note to get drunk more often before a mission. Or at least half drunk. She had no idea how she'd operate if she were completely hammered.

But that brought her right back to the frigate. What right did this miserable excuse for a ship have to speak about her, anyhow? Where did it get off telling her what she already knew? Stupid frigate, sitting out in the middle of nowhere light years from the nearest star, from the nearest outpost, wanting desperately for everyone to believe that it didn't even exist. Maybe that's why it spoke. Maybe it was lonely, thirsting for companionship. Can ships even feel lonely? It was a piece of pirated junk, made from the scraps of hundreds of smaller vessels. Maybe the accumulated years of smaller scraps each brought with them a piece of their crew's soul. Maybe it was a hybrid just like her, a ramshackle jumble of different pieces. Maybe that was why it was lonely.

Tejed sighed. She was lonely, too. Maybe her and the frigate could be lonely together.

A loud clang came from behind her and quickly the hybrid spun around, roving the corridor for the cause of the sound. It had echoed, so it wasn't the frigate's pockmarked hull buckling. It might have been a broken pipe, but the lack of any sort of steam or dust from such a mishap made her think otherwise. The corridor was empty, just like her heart, and with a heavy sigh she turned back the way she had been walking. Probably just a parasite, anyhow. Pirate ships were laden with the little monsters.

Alerted by the faint clatter of claws on steel up ahead, she ducked into a darkened side room. A guard slowly walked past, his modified right claw tapping listlessly on his side. It was obvious he was bored as hell. Nothing ever happened here, anyhow, and this was his third circuit of the level. Tejed had seen him walk by a few times, each time more bored than the last. He wanted action. He'd get it soon enough.

He slowed to a stop by some doors further down and sighed heavily before turning around and starting back again. His weapons were on standby, seeing as nothing ever happened here, and he wasn't paying attention to anything other than the blank area two feet in front of him, and he wasn't even really paying attention to that, either. He was completely out of it. The moment he passed Tejed's door she lunged out and grabbed him, pulling him back into the room. Poor pirate never knew what hit him.

She quickly broke both his arms and held him against the floor, smirking down at him, a hand over his mouth to keep him from crying out. Just because she couldn't go on one of her patented sadistic killing sprees didn't mean she couldn't kill just one. Maybe it would curb her anger for a few short minutes.

"Let's make this nice and painful, shall we?" she chuckled.

The pirate looked dead terrified. Carefully Tejed wedged one of the fingers of her free hand underneath a corner of his exoskeleton and gave a slow, determined pull. The pirate tried to cry out but she muffled his screams. No need to get an entire squad on her ass. She was having too much fun. A patch of exoskeleton came away with an almost sickening crunch, followed by the wet snapping of tendons and veins breaking away. The pirate was in utter agony and his failed attempts at screaming showed it. It just spurred Tejed on.

Her smirk had grown into a full on sadistic grin and she grabbed onto another piece of carapace. The pirate shook his head quickly, already knowing what was coming next. And he couldn't stand the pain anymore. Tejed stopped in mid pull and smiled at him.

"Tell you what," she said quietly. "I'll remove my hand, if you _promise_ not to scream."

He nodded feverishly and the hand was gone. He screamed anyway, the pain of it all too much to bear. Tejed just rolled her eyes and covered his mouth again. Hopefully that agonized cry hadn't caught any unwanted attention.

"You're lucky your pain put me in a good mood," she rasped. The pirate's screams died down and he trembled. "Let's try that again, shall we? _Last_ _chance_."

She removed it and the pirate gasped for breath, a thin line of blood running out of his mouth. This was a fun little game.

"Who are you?" he croaked in his clicked language. Tejed was vaguely surprised. She hadn't expected him to speak after so much pain. "You look like us and yet you're not. What do you want with me?"

Suddenly she laughed.

"What do _I_ want with _you_?" She thrust her face into his and angrily spat in his eye. "I hate your filthy guts, each and every one of you. It's because of _you_ that I'm like this and it's because of _you_ that I hate so much. My name is Project TransFuse, maybe it'll ring some bells in that dense little head of yours."

"Tr-TranFuse?" the pirate gasped.

"Yeah, that's right," sneered Tejed. Her grip on the chunk of exoskeleton tightened. "I take it you know me?"

"Science Team told me about you," he replied. It sounded like he was talking through a lungful of blood. Maybe he was. "They said you were unpredictable and insane, and everyone should run when we see you. But that was months ago. What are you doing…back here?"

"What the fuck does it matter to you?" she hissed. Talking to this pirate was one of the strangest things she had ever done, stranger than that one pirate she had decided to spare all that time ago. He feared her yes, and that was good, but he didn't seem to loathe her like the rest. He didn't even know who she was at first glance and he understood English. She hated that. All the more reason to kill a freak like him.

But…she might as well get some information out of him, while he was still alive and willingly speaking. She let go of the carapace and sat back on her haunches. The pirate wasn't going anywhere, he was too broken.

"Do you know anything…" Tejed couldn't believe she was actually talking to him like…Like a _normal_ person. Treating him like a human being. She shuddered. When she was done she was going to kill him fast, get the memory of it out of her head. "…Anything about humans? Are there any humans here?"

"There's two," he said quickly. Maybe he knew he was going to die, too. "They were on the Tr-Tr-"

He coughed up a mouthful of blood. Evidently Tejed had damaged him more than she realized. She smiled. Good.

"The TransFuse project," he finished with a gasp. He looked close to death. "They're both up one level, but in different cell blocks."

"Good filthy creature," Tejed cooed. She wrapped a hand around his neck and started squeezing, hoping his eyes would pop out of his skull like overcooked popcorn. "I hope you enjoy your death, because you killed my joy a long time ago. I hope you burn in hell."

"Don't blame the race for a few individuals' mistakes," he choked out. Tejed faltered. "I never even knew who you w-were, I j-just work here…"

For a moment she was confused and sad. Was this what she had become? So bent on revenge that she was ready to decimate an entire race, an entire race that had been persecuted and labelled as evil, all because a few had followed the twisted ideals of one crazed leader? How was she to know if the space pirates had families, had hopes and dreams of their own to aspire to? Maybe there was more to them than frigates, phazon and experiments. Maybe the pirates she had met and gleefully killed were more than just killing machines. Maybe…

"_Maybe they're all just playing with your mind to get your sympathy,"_ snapped the voice irritably. It sounded suspiciously like it was drunk, too. _"Kill the damn thing already. It's suffered for long enough and our head hurts…" _

Without hesitation Tejed's hand twisted, snapping the creature's neck and rending his spinal cord in half. He died instantly, along with whatever secrets he held, and shakily she stood. He looked almost peaceful now that he was dead, notwithstanding his broken neck, snapped arms, and missing exoskeleton. It angered her. Before she could dwell any longer on his words she stomped on his head, rendering it nought but a dark green smear on the floor.

"Filthy bastard," she spat, glaring at his headless corpse. His words were still heavy on her mind but she pushed them away. This was not the time for needless musings, she had a sister to save, and apparently she was one level up, along with Gin's brother.

Oh, and that clatter all that time ago? It hadn't been a parasite, of course. Murphy's Law saw to it that it was never something as simple as a parasite. But god if it wasn't just as annoying. The minute Tejed left the room she was greeted by none other than a Hackbot in her face, a Hackbot that had appeared seemingly out of thin air. She lost her balance and almost fell again.

"God fucking damn it, Hackbot!" she yelled. The robot had caught her off guard and had more or less scared the ever loving bejeesus out of her when he decided to say hi. His way of saying hi? Pushing himself into her face and screaming it. Tejed's voice echoed down the corridor and she winced. She hoped there weren't any pirates nearby… Without warning the robot leapt forwards and caught her in a sudden hug.

"I'm sorry!" he cried. Tejed tried to pry him off but it was no use. He had latched onto her like Velcro. "You're going to kill me now, aren't you? I knew sneaking onto your ship was a bad idea, but it was so pretty and covered in guns that I couldn't resist! Don't kill me!"

Tejed snarled, drawing a hand across her face in anger before clenching it into a fist. Hackbot always did instantly anger her. Despite living with Gin he was the exact opposite. His whiny voice angered her, his resilience angered her, and the fact that he had very selective hearing also angered her. Her headache had risen and she let out a breath in an effort to calm herself down.

"I won't kill you, Hackbot," she said slowly, with effort. "So long as you _don't_. _Fucking._ _Touch._ _Me_."

Just as quickly as he had latched on Hackbot jumped off and beamed up at her. She abruptly punched his head off.

"But I thought you said you wouldn't kiiiill meeeeee!" he cried, his head clattering against the far wall. Tejed glared at his stumbling body and kicked it over, as well, almost loosing her balance as she did so.

"I didn't kill you," she replied curtly. Already she had turned away and started walking down the hall. "I just helped your body get rid of that obnoxious pest on its shoulders."

His head skittered back and he jumped up, whole again.

"You're right! I'm not dead!" he yelled happily. Tejed groaned. Saving her sister had just gotten one step harder.

* * *

Samus waited impatiently beside her ship, arms crossed in front of her and her foot tapping anxiously against the ground. Gin was taking forever. He said it would only be a few minutes and here she was ten minutes later. Didn't he have a long dead brother that needed saving? Wasn't there a Tejed waiting aboard a pirate vessel as they spoke, most likely blowing the whole damn thing to kingdom come? Wasn't there…wait, no. Tejed and Gin's brother more or less covered it.

Gin flew out of his ship, a ratty old paper in one hand. Samus merely groaned. She had waited ten minutes for him to grab a piece of _paper_? Paper? A thin substance made for writing on, usually crafted out of trees? What the hell…

"Paper?" she stated as Gin reached her. He smiled sheepishly at her.

"Personal thing."

Samus abruptly turned and boarded her ship, Gin close behind. It wasn't just a piece of paper, well it was, but it wasn't just any piece of junk paper. It was something that meant something very dear to him, something that would hopefully abolish Tejed's newfound hate for him. He tucked it into one of his pockets and took a seat behind Samus as her ship took off. He would have preferred his ship, seeing as it had more than just one seat, but Samus was adamant that they take hers. Ah well, the sooner Gin saw his brother again, the better.

* * *

"And then there was that time…three years ago! With a monkey, and the Chihuahua, I named 'em both George!"

Tejed sighed heavily and did the stupidest thing she could ever do. She engaged Hackbot in conversation.

"How could you tell them apart if they were both named George?" she asked tiredly. She really had no idea what he was talking about; he lost her the second he had started talking. Hackbot was quiet for a moment. If Tejed listened really hard, she could here the gears in his head meshing together. Too bad they were both turning the wrong way.

"Well, one of 'em was George Jr., and the other was George Sr. To this day I don't remember if the grapes or the cannibals gave me their elixir, but I can always count on George to make it all right! And not the Chihuahua if you know what I mean!"

"No, Hackbot. I really have no idea."

He continued his inane banter and Tejed tried her best to tune it out, which wasn't working very well. Her ears were just too sensitive. If she had been wearing her helmet it would have been easy, but she was still stuck with that damn neck brace and snippets of his one sided conversation continued to worm their way into her brain. What was that about ice skating? Something about giant sand worms and addictive spice? What the bloody hell was he on about?

"Seriously, Hackbot," the hybrid stated, coming to a complete stop. "Just shut the hell up already, you're making my headache worse."

"But, but, but," the robot stuttered. Tejed groaned. "But, but…If I stop talking you won't hear my voice anymore! And if you don't hear my voice you'll go insane! It's a proven fact, I've seen it happen!"

"No, Hackbot," corrected Tejed calmly. She had decided a while back it was no use getting angry at him. It always failed, anyhow. "I'm already insane; your voice has nothing to do with it."

"Ooooooh." He was quiet for a few minutes and Tejed started walking again. She smiled. Her headache began to recede.

"But what about the _other_ voices?" he asked suddenly. The hybrid's headache had come right back like some sort of hideous boomerang. A hideous boomerang with 'PAIN' written across it in big bold letters. She held a hand to her head.

"What other voices?" she snarled angrily.

"The ones you hear in your head! The scary ones! If I don't talk you'll hear them, not me! And they make you do scary things! They'll make you go insane!"

"No, Hackbot," she corrected again. "I hear _a_ voice, just one, and it's a _product_ of, not the _cause_ of my insanity. I can ignore it anyhow. Pussy voice."

She would have expected the voice to come up with some snappy comeback. Instead it made some awkward gurgling sounds followed by what she could only surmise as failed attempts at speech before, well, not saying anything. She snorted in amusement. Apparently getting drunk affected the voice as well. And she was only half drunk, just a little out of it. What would happen if she were hammered?

Hackbot had started talking again. He was just like Gin in the aspect, except Gin was always trying to actually talk to her and Hackbot was just talking for the sake of talking. That and nothing Hackbot said made any sense whatsoever. She ignored him as best she could and continued her search for an elevator or a flight of stairs, something to get her up one level.

And there was that horrible sound again, of talons on steel. More guards, and probably not as open minded as the last one had been.

"Murphy, you bastard, you," seethed Tejed angrily. She really didn't want to instigate a fight, not when her sister was one floor up and most likely weak from all her time spent here. Growling angrily she grabbed Hackbot, instantly silencing him, and tried the nearest door. It was locked. Of course it was, she mused unhappily. Next door. Locked as well. The clickety clack of claws was getting closer and Tejed was growing desperate. And Hackbot wasn't really helping all that much.

"That door! That door! Over there!" he said happily, pointing at a door a few feet away. Tejed was ready to try anything right about now and quickly tried the door. It was unlocked. It didn't even register how Hackbot knew it was unlocked until the pirates had passed. She set the machine down and peered out the door crack. The pair of guards were nearing the end of the hallway and she let out a breath.

"Hackbot, you crazy machine," she muttered, happy despite being stuck here with him. "I owe you an apology."

He instantly wrapped his arms around her, throwing her off balance.

"I love you too!" he cried happily.

In any other circumstance Tejed would have stayed standing. Unfortunately the alcohol had decided to stay in her system for longer than she had originally thought, and the force of his hug threw her completely off balance. She fell through the door she had just hidden behind and hit the floor with a loud crash, Hackbot draped overtop of her. The pirates stopped at the end of the hallway and turned back, their weapons drawn and charging.

"God fucking damn it, Hackbot," she seethed angrily. Hackbot just beamed happily down at her and made no inclination to move.

"You say that a lot around me!"

Tejed was really starting to hate the sound of talons clicking on steel, more so when she realized it was the exact same sound her feet made, as well. Awkwardly she managed to turn her head and look up. The worst thing about her little tumble had not been the fact that she now had two weapons pointed at her head, but that her head had collided quite hard with the steel floor. It was now bruised and sore where the bolts had crashed and she felt like she had been hit in the head with a semi truck, a semi truck that had decided to drive down her neck as well, dropping its load of boulders with every turn. It wasn't a fun experience.

"…Hi!" she said, a fake smile on her face. Maybe they wouldn't recognize their beloved project, and she sure as hell did not want to fight them, attract more. They looked at her, confused. Evidently these two did not understand English like the last one.

"…My name's Tejed," she continued calmly. Hackbot still refused to move. Damn thing was heavier than he looked. "You may remember me from such riveting adventures as 'TransFuse is escaping with the Hunter, let's get her back!'…Ring any bells?"

Nothing. One of them lowered his weapon and turned to his comrade, chittering lightly. Tejed jumped on this chance and grabbed his leg, pulling it out from under him. The other screeched and fumbled with his weapon as his comrade hit the floor.

"Get the fuck off me, you obnoxious machine!" Tejed screamed angrily. He seemed to finally realize that shit was indeed going down and promptly skittered off, whining about the dustiness as he hid in the room. Good riddance, she thought sourly. The pirate still standing had finally found which end of his weapon was the dangerous one and shot at her a few times as she stood awkwardly. A few shots glanced off her suit but one in particular hit her square in the side of the head. It was a good thing she was hard to kill. The pirate on the other hand was terrified.

"You picked the wrong person to _fuck_ _with_," Tejed snarled. The pirate instantly dropped to his knees and put his hands up, trembling from head to toe.

"Please don't kill me," he stuttered in Zebesian. "Please…Please don't kill me. Please…"

The other pirate, the one Tejed had tripped earlier, was currently trying to crawl away. The force which Tejed had yanked his leg had pulled it right out of the socket and left the pirate crippled. He had gotten as far as the door when Tejed saw him and promptly crushed his skull underfoot. He died instantly. Blood running down the side of her face she turned back to the other and grinned, activating her scythes.

Hackbot peered out of the room as she decapitated him, wincing as the pirate's headless body fell to the floor. Despite his own special brand of insanity, he still had a shred of common sense still left in his titanium skull. And watching Tejed kill pirates was bringing back memories that for a moment jolted him out of his mind and back into reality. For the first time in years without the aid of his special little alarm, he was sane.

"Hackbot, where the hell are you?" muttered Tejed as she turned, catching sight of him watching from the door. He shrunk back in fear, afraid of her. It wasn't the killing that frightened him, he had seen enough of that in his time to become desensitized to it; it was how much she enjoyed it that scared him. And god if she didn't love every single second of it.

"What are you, _afraid_?" she asked, surprised. "I didn't even know you could feel fear. Always thought your processor was too screwed up."

Absently she wiped the side of her head and whipped her scythes back, flinging the blood from them. How many more times was she going to get shot, stabbed, hit, scratched, and all out attacked before anyone realized it was a useless thing to do?

"Hackbot, come on," she ordered as she started down the hallway again. No response. She stopped and turned, irritated. He was still staring at her from the room.

"Well what the fuck are you waiting for, a red carpet? Come on."

The robot hesitated. He could feel his temporary bout of sanity wearing off and he hated that. He liked having his mind in one piece, not scattered like a half finished jigsaw puzzle. Tejed was not amused.

"COME _ON_!" she suddenly screamed, patience wearing extremely thin. That damn headache instantly intensified and she cursed, holding a hand to her head. At least the voice was still intoxicated, all it managed were a few unintelligible phrases before apparently falling asleep. For a moment she wanted to tear the bolts out of her head and fling them at Hackbot for being so unresponsive, but she kind of needed them to keep her neck in place.

Hackbot on the other hand flinched at her tone of voice and promptly scampered over. His sanity was wearing thin as well and he wasn't quite sure how long he would last before he lost it, too. Damn split personality, he thought sullenly. Tejed grabbed him by the neck and pulled him in close.

"It was your idea to come here with me, you piece of shit, so do me a favour and do exactly as I say, before I rip off your outer shell and leave you to rot. Understand?"

He nodded quickly and she let go, satisfied.

"Good, now come on," she instructed. Hackbot obeyed and stayed close behind her. He hoped to hell that Tejed's mini screaming fit hadn't attracted any unwanted attention…

It had. It wasn't the familiar talons on steel that had caused Tejed to stop, it was the smell. The dust did nothing to disguise the all too familiar scent of phazon infusion. And boy was it ever strong. Intertwined with the chemical scent of phazon was the pungeant smell of pirates, a whole squad of them. And not just any pirates, phazon enhanced troopers. It would seem as though her efforts to keep the fighting to a minimum were all in vain. Bloodshed seemed to follow Tejed like flies to a carcass and she was starting to hate that fact.

"Hiding isn't an option," she muttered angrily. "Hackbot, have any ideas?"

It had been a spur of the moment question and she hadn't expected Hackbot to answer. When he did answer, and in a serious tone, she had to keep herself from falling over.

"I do double as a gatling gun," he offered. Tejed looked at him. She was surprised, confused, and vaguely disturbed. What had happened to the insane Hackbot she hated so very, very much?

"…Say again?"

"A gatling gun," he repeated with a sigh. "Look, my sanity is wearing off and I won't be easy to converse with for much longer, so be a good hybrid and activate my attack mode."

She stared at him blankly.

"My attack mode?" he repeated. This is what he got for being insane. Whenever he snapped out of it for a short time it took a minor miracle to convince other people that he really was the same Hackbot. "Biiiig button on my back. Can't miss it."

The sounds of approaching pirates intensified and without hesitation Tejed grabbed Hackbot and swung him around. Sure enough, big red button in the dead center of his back. How had she missed that? The damn thing stuck out like a sore thumb. She stared at it dumbly, still in slight shock from Hackbot's sudden change in temperament and the effects of the alcohol still coursing through her system.

"You press it," supplied Hackbot, noticing her uncertainty. "You take one of your big clumsy claws, and you press it. You know? Like a button?"

"Don't get smart with me!" snapped Tejed angrily. "Just because you're halfway intelligent now doesn't mean you can order me around."

The group of pirates, alerted by the sounds of screaming from earlier, came into sight, at which moment Tejed pressed the button. Instantly Hackbot lost consciousness, a sort of failsafe to keep him botching up whoever decided to operate him. Tejed jumped back, surprised, while the pirates faltered, confused. Hackbot fell to his knees, his entire upper half twisting around and falling forwards. His head folded neatly into his chest, only to swing out again covered in barrels instead of camera lenses, and his arms had swung around to form a pair of handles. Before he could fall flat on his gun face a tripod leg swung out from his back, which was now facing down, to support him.

Tejed's face twitched. An insane robot that apparently doubled as a lethal weapon was, well, the last thing, and she meant the dead last thing, that she had ever expected to happen. It was so utterly ludicrous that she had to stare long and hard at the Hackbot shaped turret to really understand what had just happened. And even then she still had no idea.

The pirates, on the other hand, did not care in the least about Hackbot. All they cared about was Project Transfuse, and they were under direct orders to get the damn thing back already, regardless of the casualties they would no doubt sustain. Quickly the small squad took up positions and aimed their weapons. Unlike the other ninety nine point nine percent of the space pirate militia, this small group had been actually trained in combat. No running into battle guns a blazing for them; they had been taught how to be smart in battle. Now if only all pirates were treated this way, then they wouldn't be having problems.

Too bad they were no match for a gatling gun.

It was when the pirates opened fire that Tejed snapped out of her daze and grabbed hold of the awkward handles. Phazon infused weapons fire flew by her head, a lot of it actually hitting her in the head. Her neck brace deflected most of the damage and for a second she actually thanked Gin for attaching the abhorrent mess of steel and bolts to her. The pirates stopped for a moment, confused as to why their beloved project was still standing. And that's when Tejed let loose with her own volley.

For an obnoxious and slightly insane robot, Hackbot made a damn good gatling gun. Tejed was actually starting to enjoy the experience. She had never killed pirates with a long range weapon before, her shoulder cannon not included, and the massive overkill of old fashioned steel bullets was making her happy. That and she liked the sound of the bullets colliding and ripping through enemy flesh. It was calming in its own twisted way.

Unfortunately it had ended before it had even started, before Tejed could have real fun. The small squad had been reduced to a bloody, smoking mess, their corpses littered with bullets. Tejed snorted. That's why she preferred her claws and her chainsaw over long range weapons. They were much more satisfying and she could take her time with her kills. But at least she had killed them quick, hadn't attracted so many pirates that she had to resort to entering a flat out rage. That was what she didn't want at this point in time.

Sighing she let go of the handles and leaned against the wall. It wasn't that she was particularly tired, this was just a bit too much for her brain to process all at once.

"Damnit, Hackbot," she said quietly. "You make one hell of a weapon. Too bad you're so overpowered. And obnoxious."

As if on cue the robot transformed back and beamed at her. She sighed. He was insane again; she didn't have to hear his obnoxious voice again to figure that much out. Now if only she could figure out what caused his mind swings and lock him in sanity. Oh, and what was this? Her left ear twitched and she looked up towards the smoking remains, lip curling into a sneer.

"Oh look, the cavalry's arrived," she said bitterly, glaring at Gin as he waded through the bloodied remains of exactly one squad of phazon troopers. He looked sick to his stomach, as if the sight of so much rampant death was too much for him. Immediately Hackbot scurried over and hid behind Gin. Tejed merely rolled her eyes and didn't move.

"What the hell did you do, Tejed?" inquired Gin idly. He came to a stop beside her and looked back at the remains. Samus emerged from the other end of the hallway as well and approached them. She didn't look in the least bit fazed by the destruction.

"I killed them," replied Tejed with a sneer. "That's what I do, isn't it? I kill things? It's been programmed into my brain like some filthy disease I can't ignore, you know that."

He didn't respond. Apparently she was still angry at him. Sighing he dug in his pocket for the paper he had brought along. Maybe that would sway Tejed's mind.

"Filthy fucking backstabber," she muttered angrily, ignoring Gin's search for the paper. He stopped and looked up at her.

"You're still on about that?" he asked.

"What the hell do you think?" she retorted, not bothering to return his hurt look. Samus stopped a respectable distance away and watched them, curious how Gin would handle the situation.

"I came here to apologize," he started calmly. He had found the paper and was about to hand it to her. "And find my brother, of course, but I brought this. I didn't ignore your letter, you know. I kept it with me all this ti-"

"-FUCK OFF WITH YOUR _LIES_!" she screamed suddenly, rounding on him. Just because the voice was silent didn't mean she was any more predictable. "I waited for years for your reply and I got NOTHING! It crushed my poor excuse for a heart and left me dead inside! I had feelings for you and I _still do_!"

"Damnit Tejed I have feelings for you too!" the hunter retorted loudly. He had finally reached his own snapping point. "You want to know why I never replied? I was with the Federation! The _Federation_, Tejed! They wanted me for themselves and monitored every single god forsaken thing that went in, and every single god forsaken thing that went out. No. Scratch that. They only monitored what came in because we _weren't allowed to send anything back out. _And in the off chance one of us did manage to send something out? They _saw_ it, they _caught_ it, and they _destroyed_ it. They watched us like hawks, Tejed. Like hawks!"

Tejed opened her mouth to retort but Gin shoved the paper in her face, cutting her off.

"There it is, Tejed! The note you sent me years ago! I kept it, I cherished it, and believe it or not it was one of the _only things_ that kept me going when I was in the Federation being experimented on! Read it, it's _your_ writing! Or at least, what it was, before you became the bitter beast you are now."

Her gauntleted hands closed gently around the tattered piece of paper and she read it slowly, eyes filling with tears. She had honestly believed he had discarded it like a piece of trash, that he thought of her as no more than just another girl who liked him for his wealth. Apparently none of it had been true. It had been her insanity trying to take control.

"I-"

"-You what, Tejed?" he interrupted angrily. "You finally realized it was your insanity talking, trying to turn you against everyone? Well guess what? You haven't experienced _real_ insanity; you have no idea what it's like to go into battle out of control. The closest you've gotten to out of control was that very first time you almost killed me, but ever since then, nothing. You found a way to cope with it, and I envy you for that. Why? Because whenever I do it I lose all self control! There's no magic control switch waiting to be turned on for me, Tejed! So you've killed hundreds of pirates in your twisted quest for revenge. You haven't killed hundreds of innocents because the Federation told you to! You haven't had to watch helplessly, in a moment of disgusting clarity, as a powerless woman slid down the end of your sword into a pile of her children's blood! You haven't experienced what it's like to kill people who DIDN'T DO A DAMN THING TO YOU!"

He was angry, that much was certain. Tejed tried to speak but he cut her off again, grabbed one of her antennae and gave it a good downward yank so his face was level with hers.

"You have no idea what pain is either, Tejed," he continued. "Sure you woke up on one of their operating tables in mid surgery, sure you've been shot in the head too many times to remember, sure I _broke_ your _god_ _damned_ _neck_. I bet it all hurt, didn't it? I bet you hated it all, every single second of it. You hate everything, it's what you do, right? But that's all physical pain. You have no idea what it felt like when I was forced, FORCED, at fucking gunpoint, to _destroy_ my _home_ _planet_. Oh, this comes as a shock to you, doesn't it? I wasn't born in 'ruddy good Australia', I was born on a small colony on Jupiter. And guess what? JUPITER IS GONE! Why do you think it is? BECAUSE I BLEW IT UP! With one of my Darkmass bombs! The same thing I used to destroy an entire pirate armada! I still live with that pain every single day, and not just because I destroyed a planet, but because it was still full of families! I could have saved them but I didn't!"

Tejed made a mental note not to jump to conclusions anymore, especially when Gin was involved. This whole ordeal was starting to make her feel like a piece of shit for assuming that he had done what he had done out of malicious spite. Was that how she had made Gin feel earlier? When she had raged at him? If it was, then she was horribly ashamed of herself.

"I'm-"

"-A filthy pirate monstrosity who doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone other than herself? Yes you are, Tejed. I'm glad you finally noticed." When Gin got angry, he tended to push himself right into people's faces. This had been no exception. He was so close to Tejed he could feel the heat of her skin radiating from her. And that's when he noticed her scars. Two vertical slashes over her left eye, thick and ropy and all in all painful to look at.

"Where'd you get your scars?" he asked suddenly. His rant had dissipated his anger, left him feeling good. He hadn't felt good for a long time.

"M-my what?" stuttered Tejed. The combination of the potent alcohol from earlier and his rant left her feeling out of it. Out of it and horribly guilty.

"Your scars," he repeated softly, absently reaching out to touch them. The hybrid flinched under his touch and tried to pull away, but he was still holding her antenna. "Where'd you get them?"

"I…I don't remember," she said quietly. Samus waited impatiently next to the still smoking remains but didn't say anything. Hackbot…Hackbot had wandered off somewhere.

"How can you not remember?" asked Gin a little too harshly. "The things are huge. Did you selectively forget or something?"

"I…" she started, choking up halfway through. "All I remember is searching for my sister, and then I remember escaping with Samus. Everything thing in between is fragmented and black and I'm not even sure if I got them while I was on their frigate or when I was human. I was just as surprised as you when I realized I was covered in scars."

Gin's anger had faded completely and he let go of her antenna, allowing her to straighten up again. If there was one thing Tejed hated anymore it was being low to the ground. She actually enjoyed her height. It tended to keep people away.

"You really don't remember, do you?" asked Gin softly. Tejed slowly shook her head, unsure why he saw her scars as something so important. Gin pondered for a moment.

"Tejed, do you remember when…When you were attacked…?"

"…Attacked?"

"Yeah, attacked," Gin replied slowly, trying to jolt her memory. "This was a year or so ago, when you were human. I don't know what you were doing, maybe you were searching for your sister, maybe not, but you were attacked…Near the Federation HQ…"

He trailed off, hoping she would remember. Her face twitched as she probed her broken memory, the action of which only served to exacerbate her already pounding headache. There was something, buried deep back that she almost remembered but not quite. She tried to dig it up but to no avail.

"Was there…" she began quietly, ignoring her headache. "…A creature, a monster…I remember it had like three heads or something stupid like that…"

"Yes!" exclaimed Gin happily. He had all but forgotten his earlier anger, now he was just filled with glee that she was remembering. "And there was a Federation soldier, red cross shaped visor! Do you remember, Tejed?"

"…Yes," she replied slowly, the memory coming back. "…Yes! And it was pumped full of phazon and had pushed me into a corner. The moment one of its heads struck, teeth dripping poison, that Federation soldier came out of nowhere and saved me!" She smiled wildly, a hand unconsciously running across her old scars. "After that I guess I lost consciousness, don't remember anything except…Pain. I never saw that soldier again…"

"Tejed, don't you see?" yelled Gin happily. He had grabbed one of Tejed's hands but she made no effort to pull away. "That was an Elite! One of the Federation's newest soldiers! Tejed, that was _me_!"

"That was…_you_?" she repeated quietly. He nodded excitedly and she smiled again, this time grabbing the hunter in a huge bear hug. "That was you!"

The breath was instantly squeezed from Gin and he felt his ribs give way. Sometimes Tejed was totally oblivious to her own strength.

"Yes, Tejed, I…I love you too," he managed to choke out. "But you're actually really strong and my ribs just healed a little while ago and, well…Pain, Tejed. Pain."

She abruptly let him go, slightly embarrassed that she had almost broken his ribs again. But at least she was no longer angry at him. At least he had _screamed_ his side of the story at her, and it was very comforting knowing where he had come from, if not also incredibly saddening, as well. Actually, she was quite happy right now. No more anger at Gin, Samus was here, apparently Hackbot was more than just an obnoxious machine, and she had a sister one level up that needed saving. Right now, save the fact they were on a pirate frigate again, seemed like a really good time to be alive.

"Well, I'm glad you two worked out your differences," said Samus, startling them both. "But if I'm not mistaken, there's a couple of siblings in here that need saving."

"They're one level up," stated Tejed.

"Where'd you figure that out?" inquired Gin. "Last time I checked you couldn't hack into things to save your life."

She pointed to the headless corpses and shrugged.

"One of them told me."

Despite himself Gin facepalmed. He had been doing that a lot lately, especially around Tejed. She was a good person, he gave her that, but she was so scatterbrained and dense at times. And she said the worst things. And her infatuation with killing things in the most gruesome manner possible rubbed him the wrong way.

"Okay fine, up one level," he stated calmly, trying not to look at the one corpse whose head had apparently been curbstomped into the floor. "All we need now is an elevator."

Samus pointed down the hallway where they had come from.

"We passed one on the way here. Come on."

* * *

"So, uh…Dejet…"

"What, Vince?" she asked with a sigh. The both stood in front of pirate computer terminals, doing who knows what. Not even they knew. The scraps of badly translated English they were forced to read was all they could go by, everything else that flashed on their screens was given the express of honour of remaining in Zebesian. And none of them could read Zebesian to save their lives.

"You know…We're probably going to get killed soon. Why don't we, you know, before they decide we're worthless…" He made some obnoxious squeaking noises and motioned with his hand, indicating a bed rocking up and down. Dejet rolled her eyes and glanced back at the guards. They looked downright bored. Or as bored as a couple of cold, unfeeling space pirates could look.

"Now's not the time, Vince," she stated, looking back at her monitor. He sighed and looked back at his, as well.

"Aww," he whined playfully. "Shot down for the five hundredth time."

"No…that would be four hundred and ninety nine. One more to go."

Vince was silent for a moment.

"So, uh…Dejet…"

She shook her head and didn't look up, a small smile creeping across her face. Vince was just an annoying, if not more so, than he was when she had first met him years ago in the Federation.

"_You're going to feel a sharp pain in the base of your spine..." _

"_So, uh...Dejet," he had started, that obnoxiousness creeping into his voice. Either he hadn't heard her or he didn't care. "What do you say about you and me, you know...after we're done here, we get together an—YEOW!" _

"_I told you it would hurt," Dejet had said smugly. She withdrew the syringe from his neck and set it carefully on the table beside her, allowing him to rub his neck scornfully before she started to clean it up. _

"_That bloody hurt," he had muttered dejectedly. _

"_Well, what did you expect?" inquired Dejet, a large smirk across her features. "I only injected an experimental serum into your spinal cord. Just be happy you got the modified version." _

_Vince rolled his eyes and glanced across the room. Vaughn was leaning against the wall watching him, arms crossed across his chest. It was subtle, but he looked angrier and more agitated than usual, hard lines across his normally soft features. His red eyes simmered with dull rage but he seemed to be in control now. Not like he had been yesterday, but Vince had put that down to stress. The Federation's Elite program wasn't exactly a walk in the park. _

"_So what was it like for you, Vaughn?" Vince had hollered. "Neck still sore?" _

"_Every time I look up," Vaughn had replied quietly. He sounded hoarse, no doubt from all the yelling he had done lately. Must have been a _lot_ of stress. Vaughn didn't say anything about how the serum had also burned as it went in, felt like fire rushing through his veins. Vince laughed, shrugged it off in an attempt to cheer up his brother. _

"_It can't be that bad, can it?" Dejet had finished cleaning up her station and was packing up her supplies. She had other soldiers to see to, though none of them were quite as interesting as these two. Vaughn had just shrugged and muttered something, looking down at the floor. Vince turned back to Dejet before she left. _

"_So, uh…Dejet…" he had started. She stopped and looked at him. "As I was saying earlier, you wanna, you know…" The squeaking sounds again, a bed moving up and down. She sighed and shook her head, discreetly rolled her eyes. _

"_No, Vince. Just…No." _

"_Aww, shot down for the first time." _

_Vaughn chuckled slightly from his spot against the wall but didn't move. _

"_Never had anyone say no, did you?" he commented quietly. Vince watched Dejet leave then promptly jumped down from the table, absently rubbing his neck. _

"_Nah, she likes me," he said conspiratorially, that grin on his face. Vaughn had forced a smile and clapped his brother on the shoulder. _

"_Looks like you're already experiencing symptoms," he had said wryly. Vince had given him an odd look, prompting his brother to explain. "Your eyes, one of 'em is blue. And only after a few minutes, too." _

_Vince laughed and glanced into one of the mirrors against the wall. Sure enough, his left eye was a bright, almost icy blue, kind of like his brother's were weeks earlier. Now if only he could find a way to help said brother, break him out of this angry spell he had been experiencing. At the time, Vince made no connection to the serum they had both been injected with. At the time, he was as happy as he had ever been. _

_At the time, he had suspected absolutely nothing. _

If it weren't for Vince and his ungodly habit of constantly hitting on her, she'd have probably gone insane from the solitude and torture months, if not a year ago. For that, she thanked him. For everything else on the other hand, not so much.

Sudden sounds of rapid gunfire exploded from somewhere below them, quite possibly one level down. The guards instantly jumped to action. One of them peeked out the door and the other roughly grabbed their arms, pulling them from the console.

"Hey!" Dejet yelled, an automatic reaction she couldn't control. The guard instantly whipped her across the face with his weapon, sending her to the floor. She coughed and spluttered as she found her feet, blood oozing from the new gash across her face.

"Don't _ever_ treat her like that!" yelled Vince angrily. He launched himself at the pirate but the creature had pulled out a stun gun and had shocked him before he could get too close. He fell to the floor in pain.

The other guard motioned to his comrade, chittering a long stream of broken speech as he did so. The first guard looked back at the two humans then nodded, grabbing them both by the arms. Dejet stumbled but stayed upright as he pulled them out. Vince seemed to be having trouble walking but was none the worse for wear. That's what she liked about him. Despite his tendencies to be a complete and utter ass, he had a good soul.

The pirate led them forcefully down the hallway, away from the sounds of gunfire and death. Despite the fact that they were going to be killed soon, at this point in time they were both too valuable to lose to mere marauders. The pirate halted in front of a cell door and threw Vince in. He cried out in pain as he hit the hard floor and looked at Dejet once before it was slammed shut.

"Damnit, Vince," Dejet muttered. The pirate was heading down the hall again and he didn't seem to care that he had hurt Vince, or Dejet for that matter. He made no inclination to stop her bleeding and continued with his claw clutched tightly around her arm, almost cutting off the circulation.

"Always so impulsive…I hope we get out of here alive…"

* * *

They had split up into two groups: Tejed by herself and the rest off on their own little adventure. It had turned out, through some more 'information gathering' courtesy of Tejed, that both her sister and Vince, though indeed on this level, were situated in cells on more or less opposite sides of the floor. Although she was ecstatic; she hadn't seen her sister for years and when she had been human they had been very close; she was also hesitant and the slightest bit afraid. How would Dejet react when she saw the monstrosity her sister had become? Would she love her still, despite their differences? Or would she cast Tejed aside, refuse to acknowledge her tortured existence? So as a spur of the moment thing, Tejed had sent the others after Dejet while she looked for Vince. So as to 'lessen the shock', was her excuse.

Ah, Tejed. Always so considerate.

She came to a stop at a deceivingly quiet junction and looked around, peering down each of the three hallways available. She was seriously starting to hate pirate vessels and their maze of hallways, all identical, especially frigates. Especially frigates that were also _talkers_. If this damn hunk of junk continued its incessant wailing she was going to tear it a new exhaust port, regardless if it was lonely or not.

"I swear, you piece of pirated scrap," she seethed angrily. The onset of being alone had shifted her mentality to 'talk to myself' mode. "You should be happy you're covered in dust and I can't see my reflection, else you'd be full of holes."

She grumbled angrily to herself for a few more seconds before deciding on the left corridor, and her head still pounding from colliding brutally with the ground and the lingering effects of the alcohol, she started slowly down it. She wasn't quite sure if it was the alcohol or just that she was insane, but twice she had lost her balance walking down the dreary, lifeless corridor. The first time she merely found herself tilting sideways as she walked, but the second time she had actually fallen against the wall to keep herself from falling flat on her face. And it wasn't just the balance issues, she was also starting to see things in the dim lighting, ghostly things, shadows and spectres out of the corner of her vision. She shivered, unsure exactly what was happening. Whatever it was, though, it had apparently woken up the voice. That or the voice had been awake for a while now. And the damn thing wasn't drunk anymore.

"_Well this is a wonderfully boring hall…"_ it started innocently. Tejed scowled and ignored it, almost falling against another wall in the process. The voice always started innocently. Always. Every single time it wanted her to do something, it always began with the innocent act.

"_Do you know what's on this ship?"_ it continued, undaunted. _"Why, pirates, of course. Hundreds of them. Thousands. They even have their unholy experiments here, too. They're all just screaming for release. Can't you hear them? They want to die, Ms. Jenal…" _

No response. She ignored the voice and stopped by an open door, peering in. Something at the back moved quickly towards her and in a fit of blind panic she shot at it with her shoulder cannon. In the brief flashes from her weapon she saw that the room was bare, empty, nothing but a dejected cot in one corner and a dishevelled excuse for a wash station in another. Heart still hammering from the scare she slammed the door shut and took a few quick steps back, breath coming fast and hard.

"What…?" she managed to gasp. She was alone. She did not smell nor hear anything within the radius of her senses. The voice chuckled as she started uneasily down the hall again.

"_Let's not look in there again, Ms. Jenal, okay? I hear the ghosts can get pretty irate…" _

"There's no such thing," she snapped angrily. "I'm just hallucinating. It's all your doing. You're trying to push me over the edge."

"_Me?"_ it asked, astonished. "_Why, Ms. Jenal! Why would I ever do something as inherently _dirty_ as that…?" _

"Because you're insane?" she retorted bitterly.

"_I'm only insane because you are…" _was the quick reply. Tejed snarled. Was she really that obnoxious to argue with?

"And what if I wasn't insane?" she replied.

"_Then I wouldn't exist, and you'd be very lonely…" _

Tejed didn't respond and continued her as of yet fruitless search. She was even beginning to wonder if she had been going around in circles or something. Every hallway, every single god forsaken hallway in this miserable dump, looked exactly the same. The same layer of dust covered everything and the same rusted walls presented her at every turn. She was wondering if her sister was even in here.

"_Please let me out…"_ whined the voice quietly. Pleasantries were over. It was resorting to begging now.

"_I promise I'll be good…I promise I won't take over…All I want is to be free again…" _

The pirate writing above each door she passed said nothing about prisoners, and at that they said nothing about humans.

"_It'll be good, for both of us…Let loose, become the beast you are…No one will ever know…" _

"Oh, shut up," she muttered absently. "There isn't even anyone here. Who would I vent on? The walls? Pfft."

For a moment the voice was silent. Her balance seemed to have righted itself, and curiously Tejed peered into another room. She stopped dead. A large mirror lay propped against the far wall and she found herself staring at it. It was like some sort of hideous train wreck; the more she stared, the more she hated herself, and the more she wanted to turn tail and run. But she simply could not look away.

"_There, see?"_ laughed the voice. _"You see the fear you instil in yourself? The same fear you instil in everyone else. Free me, and I can show you real fear, real joy…"_

By some feat of will she managed to tear her gaze free and slam the door shut. What the hell did pirates even need mirrors for? Did some of them actually like looking at themselves? One would think they saw enough of each other everyday to hate themselves clear into the next lifetime. But the voice was just getting started. Tejed's hand began to tremble and she grabbed it in an attempt to stop its movement. Nothing.

"_Let me out…Come on…" _

In many ways the voice's sweet cajoling was worse than its fevered yelling. It brought her closer to the edge faster than yelling and screaming ever could and she hated that. She also really hated her stupid decision to look for Vince by herself. At this rate she'd find him…Then promptly kill him.

"Seriously, there's no one here," she said lowly, teeth gritting together as she tried to remain calm. "Why waste the energy? Let's wait…"

"_But I want out now…" _

"Then be fucking _patient_."

She knew her balance couldn't last for much longer. She stumbled again, leaning on the nearest door for support, her trembling claw held against her head. Suddenly she was incredibly happy she had decided to search for Vince by herself. If Gin or Samus saw her like this, she'd feel nothing but shame.

"_Patience is a virtue I do not have…"_ replied the voice snidely. Without warning it dug its claws into Tejed's mind. She cried out in pain and grabbed at her neck brace, threatening to tear it off, before slamming a fist into the door. Without warning the door burst open and she stumbled in, almost falling flat on her face. The voice laughed but did not release its hold.

"I have to fight it," she growled angrily, grabbing at her ears in an attempt to drive it out. She kicked the wall. No use. Something moved quickly across from her but she ignored it. Only another hallucination. She needed more help, more power to fight the voice. Just because she could halfway control her actions in Berserker mode, did not mean the voice was any more civilised. Damn thing was about as intent as hijacking her as a bear was when it came to food.

"I thought you said you'd be good!" she cried helplessly. "You promised you wouldn't take over!"

"_You actually _believed_ me?"_ it inquired, shocked. It laughed. _"You should know to better than to listen to imaginary voices. What are you, stupid…?"_

A sharp pain erupted across her face and she lost her balance again. It was the alcohol, she decided with a snarl. She was never this bad with her balance, even when she was suffering a massive mental upheaval. Not to be deterred by her pain, the voice just dug in deeper, like a dog viciously jealous of its food. Tejed wiped her face with a trembling hand: blood. It hissed against her gauntlet like acid.

"FUCK!" she yelled. Another sharp pain.

"This is for hurting Dejet!" came a distinctly male voice. And it was Australian, to boot. Tejed snapped out of her episode, the voice abruptly letting go. It scurried back to its dark corner almost as quickly as it had crawled out. Apparently it didn't like being around other people. This time the pain erupted from her exposed neck, and she staggered back, gasping for breath.

"I'm here to _save_ Dejet!" she cried. The gash in her neck wasn't shallow, nor was it too deep, though it did bleed profusely. Tejed promptly held a hand to it to slow the bleeding, hoping her attacker would stop, at least long enough for her to explain. The man in question came into her line of vision, a dagger of sharpened steel clasped strongly in his hand. Although his odd coloured eyes still managed to keep their spark, his dejected body said otherwise.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously, dagger held at the ready. "How do you know Dejet, and how can you speak English, you filthy pirate?" Tejed was instantly angry.

"First off, I'm _not_ a _pirate_," she retorted. If there was one thing she hated more than anything, that damn voice aside, it was being called a pirate. The bleeding had slowed and she removed her hand. "Second, I'm her god damned sister, you asshat. I came here to save her but it seems as though I found you first."

The dagger remained poised.

"…What's your name?"

"Tejed," she snarled angrily. "Tejed Jenal. But a lot of people here seem to know me better by Project TransFuse. Maybe you've heard of me?"

The dagger relaxed by a millimetre, its owner still cautious. Tejed just rolled her eyes. She was glad she had found him when she did, any more alone time and, well…There'd be a sadistic voice operating, not her.

"I take it you're Vincent," she said quietly, still nursing her wounds. "Gin is here looking for you. He's somewhere on the other side of this level."

"Who the hell is Gin?" he replied suspiciously.

"Gi-… I mean Vaughn. He's down…" She waved in some random direction. "…That way. He's looking for Dejet while I was sent after you."

Vince almost instantly brightened and dropped the dagger. It clattered noisily to the ground and Tejed eyed it. Already its steel length was full of pockmarks from her blood.

"Vaughn is here?" cried Vince happily. "And he's saving Dejet, too?"

"Keep your voice down," grumbled Tejed, irritated already. "You'll attract pirates."

She didn't wait for Vince's reply and promptly left the room. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about him that set her off, made her uneasy. Well, maybe not uneasy, but she had a sneaking suspicion she had met him once before. Only she didn't remember him having odd coloured eyes… She peered down the hallway she had come from and sighed. Her neck brace was starting to itch again and she picked absently at the bolts.

"So you're Tejed, eh?" She jumped slightly, not expecting him to speak to her, and glared down at him. He looked…Happy. Just like Gin. Oh god, they really _were_ brothers.

"I was," she replied curtly. Despite the year he had spent in captivity, and despite his haggard appearance, Vince seemed none the worse for wear. Snarling Tejed started down the corridor the way she had come, Vince tagging along beside her. Why did everyone else manage to get off scott-free while Tejed got all the pain and insanity? It was almost cruel how fate had decided to operate. And the worst part of all this madness? Vince was just like Gin, even down to the happiness and the optimism. Must run in the family.

"You're not the same Tejed from high school, are you?"

She was half listening, trying to figure out where she knew him from. And how her sister would react when she saw her. And above all else how to get out of here. Just because she had spent untold months onboard multiple frigates didn't mean she could navigate their twisting halls any better.

"What if I am?" she replied quietly.

"You were always fawning over Vaughn," he said with a wry smile. "Did you ever…You know…?"

He made some obnoxious creaking noises and Tejed sighed, annoyed by his antics already. What bizarre cogs were turning in his mind that he thought now was a good time to ask about _that_? It was as if it was the only thing on his mind, just like that one obnoxious pest of a person she had known in high school. A sudden realization hit her and she stopped dead. He walked into her back.

"Hey!" he accused, rubbing his now sore nose. Tejed didn't move.

"_That's_ where I know you from," she hissed, turning her yellow eyes on him. "You were always hitting on me between classes, trying to get me to go out with you. _You_ were the one who ruined my social life!"

He looked hurt.

"Me?" he questioned. "You were always shy, I had nothing to do with it."

"You had _everything_ to do with it." She slowly approached him, driving him into a half open door. "I had a life, I had friends, I had confidence, before _you_ came along with your snarky playboy attitude and decided it would be a bang up idea to hit on me, _me_ of all people. And it wasn't just the casual, 'wanna go out' kind of hitting, it was the obnoxious in your face with those blasted squeaking noises hitting, the kind that scared me senseless at that age because you just wouldn't let up!"

Vince stumbled and fell against the door, falling into the room in the process.

"N-now Tejed," he stuttered. He was finally scared. Tejed liked that. She continued her slow advance. "You c-can't really blame me, now can you? I was a teenager, for Christ's sake, it's what t-teenagers do! Hit on chicks!"

"Was that what I was to you? Just another 'chick?" she hissed angrily. Vince backed into the wall. Something big and heavy clattered to the ground, breaking into a million tiny little pieces as it fell. "Go ahead, Vince. Hit on me right now, let's see how I'll react. Oh, wait, that's right. I'm not a chick anymore, now am I?"

She smiled sadistically as she reached him. The poor man looked close to tears, his disgusting optimism gone in place of cold fear. Tejed didn't care that he was Gin's brother and that they had been close together, she didn't care how distraught Gin would be when she finally found him again. All she cared about was revenge, and though it was petty when compared to her hatred of pirates, it was a revenge that she would enjoy greatly.

"Any last words, you filthy Aussie?" Tejed spat.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry for doing that to you, f-for treating you that way. Forgive me, please."

"I don't forgive."

"_See? I told you letting me free would not be in vain…" _

Something crunched underfoot, the distinct sound of glass tinkering apart. Tejed paused a few inches from Vince and looked down. The same mirror she had ran from earlier now lay in a million shimmering pieces upon the floor, each one reflecting back a distorted vision of her. She started hyperventilating, mesmerized by her own reflection and unable to look away. Vince saw his chance and quickly skittered away while she was occupied.

"_Now's a good time, Ms. Jenal,"_ her reflection coaxed. _"He hurt you years ago, let me out and we can enact our revenge…" _

"Why do you do this to me?" she whispered harshly. Vince stopped by the doorway and watched her, unsure exactly what was happening. The Tejed he remembered was secretive and shy, whereas this one was apparently insane and hateful. Putting one and one together in his mind didn't get him two, it got him some weird decimal number he couldn't quite wrap his head around.

"_You know I only have your best interests in mind…" _

There it was again with the mental claws. The voice sunk them into Tejed's mind again and she quickly stomped on the mirror shard, obliterating her reflection in a cloud of reflective dust.

"Get your fucking fangs out of my mind!" she screamed angrily. Vince flinched and recoiled out the door, peering back around the corner. Tejed was systematically stomping on the glass and swearing like a sailor. Tentatively he reached back in and swiped a shard near the door. If she decided to come after him again, at least he'd have some sort of protection. Tejed destroyed the last shard and turned to Vince, froth forming at the corners of her mouth.

"_You_," she seethed, taking a heavy step towards him. Now that the voice had gotten her riled up it didn't run away. Instead it sat smugly at its imaginary command chair, waiting for the feel of Vince's organs being torn from his body. Vince backed out of the room and held a hand up defensively.

"I didn't really mean it, all those times I hit on you," he started quickly. Just like Gin he also had a really annoying habit of talking non-stop. And Tejed hated that. She grabbed the door frame for support: she was still a little tipsy. Her claws left buckled holes in the steel frame.

"Seriously, Tejed," he continued. She took another step towards him and he backed into the far wall. "If I knew how you felt I would have stopped right away. I may be an ass but at least I know when to stop."

"I _did_ tell you to stop," she snapped. "You never listened. You were an arrogant ass then and you still are now, and I'll enjoy ripping you to tiny little shreds."

"A l-little hasty there, are we, Tejed?" he laughed nervously. "You c-couldn't actually _kill_ me…Could you?"

"I don't know, I never killed another person before." She reached him and scraped her claws against the wall above him, filling the air with the high pitched shriek of steel on steel. "Let's see what it's like, _shall_ _we_?"

"_Yes…Yes…!" _said the voice, anticipating her next action like a hungry jackal. _"Do it, Ms. Jenal! Kill him…!" _

Vince squeezed his eyes shut and whipped out the last shard of mirror, stopping the hybrid's claws millimetres from his face. One of them brushed his cheek and hesitantly he cracked open an eye. Just as he had thought, the mirror had done its job. Tejed was stuck staring at her reflection, almost hypnotized by her own eyes. The voice had released its hold and had scurried away for the time being. Slowly Vince stood, keeping the reflective shard in front of him for protection.

"Now, Tejed," he started quietly, shakily. "I really and truly am sorry for what I did to you. If it's any consolation I did it to all the girls, but I really had no idea it affected you so hard. I was an idiot back then, I accept that. I see the error of my ways. All I ask of you is to let me live. I've changed since then, Tejed."

Slowly he pulled back the mirror, snapping the hybrid out of her psychosis induced trance. Her reflection whispered sadly at her as he put it away and she turned her gaze to him.

"…Tejed…?"

She drew back her claw and shook her head slowly, clearing it of the dark clouds that had gathered. Grumbling quietly she turned away from the shaken man and took a hesitant step down the hall, almost falling from the alcohol. Quickly she regained her dwindling balance.

"Fine, you can live," she said quietly. Vince smiled and pocketed the mirror shard, just in case.

"I really am sorry, Tejed," he replied softly. She glanced back at him sadly and sighed.

"I know," she said gently. She started down the corridor again. "…I know."

* * *

Dejet shuddered and put down the badly translated reports, her hand unconsciously going to the new scar that snaked its way down her shoulder and across her visible ribs, then to the fresh one across her face. She approached the far wall of her cell and absently scratched a mark into the wall with a small dagger that Vince had fashioned for her. That made one more full talley, just one of many that littered the wall. She didn't even have to count them to know how many there were: exactly four hundred and sixty three marks, one for every day, making a grand total of one year and ninety eight days since she was captured by the space pirates and ferreted away to one of their frigates.

Dejet sighed and turned. Too many depressing thoughts. She was surprised she hadn't committed suicide yet. Of course she had thought about it on more than one occasion, seriously considered the ramifications her death would have, but every time she came to the same conclusion. What would happen with Tejed? Dejet couldn't just up and kill herself without knowing how it would affect her sister. Plus she didn't have the guts. And what if the pirates were going to set her free the next day anyhow, only to enter her cell and find her dead?

But that was enough of that. She approached the mirror on the adjoining wall and stared at her reflection. She had all the appearance of a malnourished and close to death vagrant. Her cheeks were sallow, her eyes were sunken, and her hair was very visibly unkempt, full as it was with streaks of white and splotches of dirt and blood. She hated the way she looked and the pirates for doing it to her, but she had realized long ago she had to keep going, for her sake, and for her sister's.

With a sigh she started her nightly wash ritual, thankful at least for the running water the pirates decided to give her. She washed her face slowly and with care, relishing the feel of the water on her skin. The water ran into the sink dark with filth, a dirty combination of sweat, blood, and accumulated grime. The pirates never were one for good working conditions. She looked back in the mirror, her face pale now that the dirt was gone. She sighed again, this time heavy with sorrow, and went back to her tiny little cot to get some sleep before they came again.

She briefly thought of crying herself to sleep but had cried herself dry months and months ago. Instead she turned her thoughts to Vince. She hoped all to hell that he was alright, and that they'd both wake up tomorrow alive, not dead.

Without warning the door burst open and a man ran in, stopping suddenly as he caught sight of her. He gaped for a few moments like a fish out of water before finally speaking.

"You!" Gin pointed accusingly at Dejet, his whole body twisted in some overly dramatic pose. She had been the last person he had expected when Tejed said she had a sister. Dejet in turn had scrambled from her cot when she saw him, confused and frightened.

"You!" she had said at the exact same time, in more or less the exact same pose. They stayed in their respective positions for a few seconds, shocked and slightly confused.

"What are you doing here?" they both blurted in unison.

"I'm here to save you!" said Gin, still surprised. Dejet instantly backed into the wall, almost tripping over her sorry excuse for a sleeping cot in the process. She fumbled around the floor for a moment, coming up with a small yet sharp dagger. Gin held his hands up defensively.

"Stay back!" she warned. "I've seen your Physeter induced insanity, you stay right there!"

"…I'm stable now," he retorted quietly. He sounded hurt. Dejet lowered her weapon and peered at him curiously, still on guard. Though she hadn't seen him in years, she still remembered his outbursts quite clearly. He had been quite the force when she had worked with him.

"…Your eyes aren't red…" she said slowly, the weapon falling to her side. For a moment Gin was confused as to what she was getting at. She just stared at him with her sunken eyes before he finally understood. Even when it wasn't about the complexities of love, the man was still dense.

"Oh, my eyes!" he said suddenly. "One of my…Friends managed to produce an anti-serum, to counteract the Physter's…Less than gossamer side effects."

Dejet was intrigued. An anti-serum? She had toyed with the idea when she was with the Federation, seriously tried to engineer a way to help Gin, but she never had the time nor the money to bring the idea to fruition. That and the Federation seemed to like him just the way he was, insanity and all. Pfft, super soldiers, she thought sullenly. The Federation loved them a bit too much.

She was no longer afraid of him. Without the Physeter clouding his actions he was harmless. Slowly she approached him and proceeded to look him all over, momentarily forgetting her current predicament and taking on the air of the scientist she had originally been.

"An anti-serum, eh?" she mused. Gin shrugged, unsure what to do. Dejet just chuckled and returned her gaze to his face, despite herself happy to see him again. Chemically engineered insanity aside, he was also dependable and gracious, from what she had remembered.

"You never cease to amaze me, Mr. Masters," she said with a smile. Apparently Gin felt much the same. He smiled back and gave an awkward little bow.

"I do try my best, Ms. Jenal," he replied politely.

A loud pirate screech sounded from somewhere outside the room and they both flinched, the realization that they were still onboard a pirate vessel jarring. Quick as a flash Gin ran to the door and peered down the corridor. Nothing. The halls were as empty as they had been when he got here. Blasted frigate with its maze of pipes and vents must have magnified the sound. He turned back to Dejet and smile awkwardly.

"I'd love to stay and chat, Dejet, whole life story and all that, but we have a frigate to escape."

She agreed wholeheartedly and, for the first time in one year and ninety eight days, stepped out of her cell without a pirate escort. Her muscles protested, of course; the most physical activity she had for the past year and a bit had been pacing around her cell and standing in front of terminals; but she ignored it, determined as she was to never see a space pirate ever again. Gin helped her walk down the curiously empty halls, and for that she thanked him immensely.

"Where is everyone?" she inquired after a little while. Her strength was beginning to come back and she could almost walk on her own.

"They're on high alert," explained Gin quietly. The lack of activity out him on edge, too. "They know we're here, but they're biding their time. Must be planning something big…"

"Something…Like TransFuse?" Dejet asked gently. Gin paused and looked down at her, really seeing her for the first time. Both her and Tejed looked so similar it was almost hilarious. Same austere faces, same lack, or mayhap control, over emotions, same hair styles…Same eyes, despite the obvious differences.

"What do you know about TransFuse?" he asked quietly. They had both stopped walking.

"TransFuse…" she parroted, wracking her memory for answers. "All I remember was that it was some unholy pirate experiment, pumped up on phazon and chemicals and infused with their own DNA." She shuddered as she recalled the compounds she had created, the plans she had written for it. "I never actually saw it, only read the chilling reports, but from what they pumped into the monstrosity I hope I never have to see its mutated excuse for a face."

Gin sighed and started walking again. How in god's name would he break the news to her and why had Tejed decided he was the one to do it? Samus would be much better at this, not him.

"Oh, god, I wish Samus were here," he muttered absently. Startled, Dejet looked up at him.

"Samus? You mean you're not alone?"

"Alone? Are you crazy?" he laughed. "Of course Samus is here. She's busy keeping their numbers in check down at the docking bays. Hackbot…I have no idea where he is, and…"

He trailed off, stopped walking. Dejet had regained her strength and could walk on her own, but slowed to a stop as well. Gin turned to her with a sort of sad smile.

"…Tejed is here, too," he said finally. Dejet's eyes instantly brightened. "She was the one who single-handedly found your location and spurred us to come here."

"Tejed…Is here?" she whispered, a tear forming in her eye. Tejed, her sister…Was here? Mild-mannered Tejed who wouldn't hurt a fly? Here, on a pirate frigate? For her…? Gin merely nodded.

"She loves you," he continued quietly. "She's been through hell and back just to make sure you're alright."

At that Dejet smiled and chuckled beneath her tears. And to think of all the times she had contemplated suicide, seriously considered the ramifications involved in ending it. Good thing she hadn't, else she wouldn't be here, about to meet her sister again, about to get off this frigate once and for all. She thanked fate.

"Tejed is here…" she whispered happily. Gin smiled at her. It quickly turned into a frown. Now came the harder part. Gently he put a hand on Dejet's shoulder. It was boney and thin underneath his hand.

"Now, what would you say…" He faltered, found his words again. "What would you say if I told you…That…That Tejed _was_ TransFuse…"

"I'd say you're pulling my leg," she said quickly. She began walking slowly, Gin keeping easy pace beside her. "Tejed wouldn't hurt a fly and there were reports of TransFuse going into violent rages and decimating entire teams…They say it revelled in it."

"…I wasn't lying when I said she's been though hell and back," he said gently. Dejet was dubious, of course. Tejed, the violent monster she had read about? Preposterous. But then, Vaughn Masters had never been the type of person to lie. Go on insane rampages, yes. But lie? No. She slowed to a stop again, the truth sinking in.

"You mean…my sister…for one year…and I was…?"

Gin nodded sadly and just like that Dejet burst into tears, the whole ordeal a bit too much for her to take at once. She instantly wrapped her arms around Gin and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Oh god, Vaughn," she sobbed. "What kind of monster ruins her own sister's life? I bet Tejed hates me for what I did, for what I made her into."

Gin pulled her away and looked into her face.

"Tejed does not hate you," he stated. "She came all this way for you, without a thought for her own safety. She loves you as any sister would, maybe even more. She does not care that it was you who gave the Pirate's the information they needed, all she cares about is that you are safe."

She continued to cry and Gin embraced her again.

"And you're not a monster, you just did what they made you do. You had no say in any of it."

Wiping her face she stopped crying, staved back the emotion in such a way that can only come from years of confinement. She was still distraught, of course, both for what she had inadvertently done and that she didn't even know it had been Tejed. Nothing could cure that kind of guilt. Now she wasn't quite sure if she could face Tejed, whatever her sister looked like.

Loud, heavy footfalls echoed down the hall. Dejet instantly hid behind Gin, terrified. The last thing they needed right now were pirates, especially one as loud and mean sounding as this one. Gin readied his katana just in case, but instantly lowered it when a man turned the corner. His face instantly broke into a smile and he sheathed his sword.

"Vincent!" he yelled happily, waving the man over. He caught sight of Gin and smiled, too.

"Oh god, Vaughn!" he yelled as well, as he ran over. The two instantly embraced in a tight hug, it was obvious they hadn't seen each other for a long, long time.

"I thought you were dead!" exclaimed Gin happily. Vince just laughed.

"I did, too!" he exclaimed. "I mean, I thought you were dead. I went into a coma after the whole sniper incident and when I woke up they already erased all my records. They didn't even know it was me when they shooed me out!"

"Seriously? Wow," said Gin happily. Despite the seriousness of the story he still sounded happy. "Unlike you I staged my death. Couldn't stand the Federation's shit anymore. But that's enough crap about me. How's the old cyclops?"

Dejet held back as they embraced. She had no idea that the man she had worked with on TransFuse for more than a year was Vaughn's brother. Hell, they even looked the same. It was almost creepy.

"Been better," replied Vince. Dejectedly he fingered the meagre scraps of torn clothing he was wearing, a shard of broken mirror falling out of a torn pocket in the process. Sighing he bent to retrieve it. "The Pirate's aren't exactly known for good living environments."

Gin laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. It was time to bring their conversation to a close for now. They could reminisce more when they were back in Federation space.

"It's just good to see you again. Where's…?"

As if on cue the owner of the heavy footfalls turned the corner as well, her burnished copper suit gleaming dully beneath the layers of dried blood and gore. She had not yet seen Dejet and her miserable expression resonated nothing but cold anger.

"He talks a lot, just like you," Tejed spat as she approached them, the ground shuddering with every heavy step. "He never shuts up. You're like two halves of the same Australian coin and it's _fucking_ _annoying_."

Dejet was dubious and slightly scared. Was this her sister? Was this what the Pirate's had done to her? She still had a humanoid build, yes, but her legs were double jointed, ending in vicious mechanical talons, and she only had three fingers per hand, three fingers tipped in claws but currently hidden beneath thick gauntlets. Her voice was scratchy and deep and without a shred of humanity, and she sounded, for lack of a better term, just like a Space Pirate.

Gin just looked happy to see her, despite the rudeness and bitter anger dripping from her words.

"Nice to see you too, Tejed," he said amiably. Vince looked sour.

"I do not talk a lot," he retorted unhappily. Tejed turned her gaze back to him and snarled.

"Yes, you do," she hissed. "It's like you're taking a piece of the heaviest grit sandpaper you can find and shaving my brain with it. It _hurts_ _my_ _ears_. I'm just surprised they haven't melted off yet."

Gin rolled his eyes. Already the two were arguing; at this rate they'd be great friends by no time. Dejet was still stationed behind him and with a small sigh he moved out of the way, so Tejed could see her. Instantly she stopped arguing with Vince and fell to her knees.

"Dejet…" she muttered, the anger gone from her voice. Now she sounded sad. "Oh god…I've been searching for you for _years_."

She sounded like she was about to cry, but at the same time she sounded insanely happy. Dejet wasn't quite sure what to do. She stared at Tejed, but found nothing to go by with her twisted face. Sure the emotion was there; poor mutated thing looked about ready to break down into tears. But she was too different for Dejet to comfortably call her Sister again, at least not for a while. Tejed noticed her repulsed look and stood again, turning away so that her face was half hidden in the dark.

"I'm…sorry, that I'm so revolting," she said softly. She pushed gently past Dejet and began walking slowly down the corridor. Everything she had dreaded about this moment was coming true and she let the tears free. Dejet had taken one look at her and said nothing, and the act of staying silent was in many ways more painful than being called names.

"Damnit, Tejed," muttered Gin. He ran to catch up to her, laid a hand on her arm. She stopped but didn't look at him.

"She hates me," she whispered harshly.

"She does not hate you," replied Gin sternly. "She thinks _you_ hate _her_."

Tejed finally looked at him, surprised by his words.

"Why the hell would I hate her?" she inquired. "She's my sister! I couldn't hate her even if I tried."

Dejet and Vince were both in the same spot watching. Dejet looked sad.

"Do you know why she's here?" questioned Gin. Tejed looked at him blankly. "She was the lead scientist for Project TransFuse, Tejed. She was the one who concocted the chemicals and the phazon the pirates pumped into you. She was the one who wrote up all the plans that made you what you are."

Still confused Tejed looked back at her sister, mustered up her broken excuse for a voice.

"Is that true, Dejet?" she asked. "Did you…Do _this_?"

She motioned at her face. All Dejet could do was muster a weak 'yes' and bury her face in Vince's shoulder. Despite herself Tejed laughed. The whole idea seemed ridiculously ludicrous to her. Tejed? Angry at her own sister? Preposterous! Her husky voice echoed around the corridor before fading into the darkness. Dejet looked back up at Tejed, slightly frightened by her laughter. The hybrid wiped a phazon tear from her eye and kneeled down again.

"I haven't seen you in forever," said Tejed sadly. "Could I…?"

She kneeled back down and opened her arms. Dejet hesitated, only to have Vince push her encouragingly forward.

"I don't hate you, Dejet," said Tejed softly. "I hate the pirates. I could never hate you, not even in a million years."

That was enough for Dejet. With a small smile she approached Tejed and embraced her in a hug much the same way as Gin and Vince had. Tejed's rusty old suit was cold and hard, but her breath was warm and pungeant, laced with a strange combination of faint chemicals, decay, and blood. For lack of a better term, it smelled almost like phazon, and in Dejet's time here, she had smelt a lot of phazon.

"I thought you would hate me, when I realized what I had done," whispered Dejet sadly. Tejed just chuckled. Her wispy hair tickled Dejet's face.

"I thought _you_ would hate _me_, when you saw what I had become," she replied. It was Dejet's turn to chuckle. She pulled away from the hybrid and looked her straight in the dully glowing eyes.

"How in the hell could I ever hate my own sister, for something she had no control in?" she asked seriously. Tejed smiled.

"I was wondering the same thing," she replied. Gin just rolled his eyes, though he was glad they saw eye to eye now…No pun intended. They were still in the middle of a pirate frigate and they kind of had to escape, now. Or at least really soon.

"Okay, you two," he said tiredly. "I'm happy that you're officially sisters again, but if you haven't noticed, we're still in trouble, so…"

He let his words hang in the air. Sighing happily Tejed stood first and held out a hand for Dejet, who graciously accepted it.

"Ready to get out of here?" Tejed asked, a glint in her eyes.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

* * *

"They've…They've freed the prisoners, sir," came the weak voice. The commander turned to the pirate and looked at him impassively.

"…Oh well. We got what we needed out of them anyhow." He stared thoughtfully at the wall then laughed. "Miserable human creatures. I'm surprised they managed as long as they did. They had…resilience, I'll give them that much."

The lead of Science Team, Zotch'Ti, lowered his head sadly. He hadn't wanted any of this and was just glad TransFuse's sister had escaped. He hoped they'd make it out safely, in one piece. He hoped the commander didn't decide to try and get his lovely project back. All his hope was in vain.

"Zotch'Ti, get the latest experiment up and running," he commanded. The scientist's heart skipped a beat but he didn't say anything. The commander didn't seem to notice. "I want TransFuse back at all costs. I don't care about the others, I could care less if they died, I just want TransFuse."

Zotch'Ti hesitated for a moment and the commander finally turned to him.

"Don't worry, _Doctor_," he said quietly, emphasis on Zotch'ti's pet name. "TransFuse is hard it kill, it will be fine. Get it up and running, send it after them already."

The scientist bowed awkwardly and turned to leave.

"Yes…High commander," he said quietly. The commander smiled as he left and turned back the wall, mind a fury of colliding thoughts.

The scientist headed out of the room and towards the research bays, and the newest phazon infused monstrosity within. Every step he took brought him closer to breaking down, to crying in a corner. He was full of guilt, guilt for everything he had done, and he couldn't take it for much longer. But he couldn't ignore the high commander's orders, that would result in nothing but slow, tortured death. He stopped outside the main research bay and peered in. One of his subordinates saw him and ran up, bowing slightly.

"What are our orders, high doctor?" he asked. Zotch'Ti hesitated.

"…Get it up and running," he said quietly. "Send it after…Them…"

The lackey nodded and ran back to his comrades, shouting orders as he did so. Quickly Zotch'Ti made up his mind and turned from the room. Instead of going back to the commander's room for more orders, he took a turn down a hallway, away from the buzzing center of activity. A low growled wail echoed back from the research bay and he broke into a run. They had activated their latest experiment and in a few short moments it would be free to hunt. It's prey? TransFuse. Everything else? Mere annoyances.

Zotch'Ti had decided long ago that he hated his life here, that one day he would break free and become someone better. Finally he was acting on that. He hoped he found them before the experiment did.

And above all else, he hoped Tejed would forgive him.


	12. Chapter 12

_They gave Vincent the Physeter a few weeks ago. Damn cyclops. They refined his dosage, played with its chemical makeup, so no insanity for him. Not even any of the intense rage or the bloodlust. He always did get the better stuff, even back on Jupiter. I always hated him for that. Not to say he isn't a good brother; he's an awesome brother and I'd be lost without him; I just have to wonder what god's ass he kissed to get such a better lot in life than me. God, it's almost annoying. Well, I did get my payback, though. Earlier today I managed to best him in training. His fancy long distance tactics have nothing on my close quarter skills. The only scary part…I almost lost it again. It's the Physeter; it's been playing with my mind lately. I could control it this time because it was against Vince, but one of these days I won't be so fortunate. And I can only pray that never happens. _

_-Vaughn Masters

* * *

_

"So, uh…Tejed…"

"…What?" she growled lowly. It seemed as though Vince never learned. Despite his earlier adventure with exactly one crazed Tejed and a convenient shard of broken mirror, he still seemed to think it was a good idea to harangue her. He fingered the broken shard in his pocket, just in case.

"About your, uh…you know…"

Her eye twitched but she didn't look at him.

"About my _what_?"

Gin shot his brother a glare in the hopes he wouldn't say something stupid. He hadn't spent as much time around Tejed as Gin had; he had no idea how the hybrid operated or what pushed her buttons. Dejet just sighed and stayed beside Vince, and behind Tejed. She didn't know either, but she would find out soon enough. Vince didn't seem to get the hint and asked anyway.

"Your ears," he said mischievously. "They're huge. What, do they get cable or something?"

Tejed sighed and stopped, Gin slowing to a stop beside her. She turned back to Vince and sneered at him. The shy reaction she got when anyone else insulted her ears failed to trigger this time around.

"You really want to know why my ears are so big?" hissed Tejed angrily. He shrugged. Beside him Dejet stayed quiet. "They're so I can hear. And you know what I hear right now? I hear a pirate frigate. I hear it crying and I hear it sighing, I can hear the steel buckling and I can hear the parasites skittering throughout its vents. I hear it popping, creaking, groaning, shrieking, wheezing, sighing, and above all else I hear pirates!"

Vince didn't respond. He didn't hear anything except an old frigate and an angry hybrid. Tejed took a shaky breath before continuing.

"I can hear their vile experiments wailing and crying throughout this blasted excuse for a frigate and like it or not its driving me insane. If I'm wearing my helmet it can just up the soundproofing and block it off, but because of this-" She grabbed at her neck brace and shot Gin a glare. "-Because of this steel and rivet monstrosity I can't put my helmet on! And if I can't put on my helmet I can't block out the noise! And if I hear the noise it drives me to the edge! So shut the fuck up and leave me alone before I cross the line and tear you a new mouth!"

Nothing. Vince didn't even open his mouth a crack. Tejed huffed and turned ahead again.

"Wow, it looks like you _can_ stay quiet," she commented angrily. "Now if you can keep this up until we're no longer here, than _maybe_ you'll stay alive."

They walked in complete and utter silence for the next few minutes. The only thing that would make this perfect was if the ship decided to shut up as well. And then there was the _voice_…

"So, uh…Tejed," he started quietly, hesitantly. He had a serious question this time. The hybrid snapped and rounded on him, pinning him against a wall. Dejet shrieked and ran to Gin for protection.

"I thought I told you to shut the fuck up," she whispered harshly. A drop of drool flung itself from her mouth and hit him square in the eye. He fumbled in his pockets for that mirror shard. Good thing he still had it.

"T-Tejed," he whispered. Her eyes looked about ready to burst into flame. "Control yourself. I have a s-serious question this time, nothing about your ears."

She didn't listen, and quickly he pulled out his only protection against her, the mirror shard. Her eyes dulled down as she stared at herself. It never failed. She always went into a sort of trance when she caught sight of her reflection. She became mesmerized, not by her appearance, but by her reflection's habit of talking to her. It always whispered the strangest things, things that she couldn't quite hear and didn't quite understand.

She released her hold on Vince and backed up slowly, still in her psychotic mirror trance. Vince regained his breath and kept the mirror in front of him in case Tejed decided that the mirror trick no longer worked. Gently Dejet grabbed Tejed's hand, snapping her out of her trance.

"Tejed, what's wrong?" she asked quietly. The hybrid shook her head and looked down at her sister. She looked worried and scared.

"I don't like mirrors," she whispered, still mentally out of it. She stared at the mirror in Vince's hands before he finally pocketed it.

"…Why?"

"My reflection…" she trailed off, unsure if she should tell her sister her other secret, the one that referred to mental sickness and broken thoughts.

"You're not _that_ hideous," said Dejet kindly. Tejed shook her head and glanced back at Gin. He looked about the same as Dejet and he had drawn his katana just in case.

"It's not that I'm hideous," Tejed said quietly. She returned her gaze to her sister. "It's that I'm insane. My reflection…Talks to me…"

Dejet chuckled lightly and hugged her sister gently.

"You seem sane enough to me, Tejed."

"…You haven't seen me when I'm angry…"

For a moment Dejet recalled the reports she had read. TransFuse had decimated an entire team, torn off heads and ripped out arteries, reveled in their deaths and in the bloodbath it had created. She hoped she'd never have to see Tejed do any of that and it was all just elaboration, inventive lying to make the reports more interesting to read. But if that was the case, then the pirates had done a shitty job making a phazon infused weapon. And if that wasn't the case, they still had a frigate to escape and Dejet feared she would see the carnage anyway, regardless of sisterly love.

Tejed had turned ahead again and had resumed their slow walk down the corridor. She was just as hesitant of going into a blood rage as her sister was, and prayed they made it out of here without any trouble. Too bad things like that never happened. Tejed heard the pirate claws before anyone else did and promptly unsheathed her scythes just in case, turned towards the sound.

"What is it, Tejed?" asked Gin cautiously. As per usual he was standing beside her, his sword back in its sheath. She gave the air a tentative sniff, wary of the thick, acrid dust that clogged the air, and caught a distinctive whiff of pungeant insectoid armour.

"There's a pirate here," she breathed. The others held back as she approached the bend in the hallway, scythes held in an attack position. A single pirate ran around the corner and right into the hybrid's waiting claws. She snatched him in mid step, closed a hand around his scrawny neck, and hoisted him into the air. He shrieked in surprise but didn't struggle or draw his weapons. Tejed chuckled at his apparent surrender.

"Looks like I have a new playtoy," she hissed roughly. The pirate winced but didn't say anything, his half metal face and one mechanical eye gleaming dully in much the same way Tejed's suit did. She turned back to her friends with him still in her grasp and sneered.

"He'll tell us everything we need to know," she said triumphantly. She started walking towards them and glanced hungrily at him, a gleam in her bloodthirsty eyes. "I can make sure of that…"

"Please don't kill me," the pirate whimpered in Zebesian. Already he had resorted to begging. She ignored him. "Please…Tejed…"

She stopped dead, her clutch around his neck tightening.

"How do you know my name?" she hissed angrily, her eyes lighting up. The pirate wheezed and she loosened her grip; she didn't want to kill him just yet.

"I'm…I'm the high doctor, the main scientist," he croaked, shifting his speech to English so they could all understand him. It just angered Tejed even more. Pirates were not supposed to know English, they were supposed to speak in clicks and hisses and insect screeches.

"How in hell's name can you speak English?" Tejed seethed, her grip tightening again. Dejet laid a hand on Tejed's arm and shook her head. Tejed looked at her, surprised.

"Don't kill him, Tejed," she said sadly. "He knows things, maybe he can help us."

The hybrid snarled and squeezed his neck once more before setting him down with a little too much force, her hand clutched angrily around his shoulder. One wrong move, and the pirate would find himself with two mechanical arms instead of one. And at that moment the pirate spotted Gin, and freaked out.

"You!" he yelled angrily. He made to lunge at Gin, who had already half drawn his katana, only to have Tejed hold him back. Bits of his armour broke off from the force of Tejed's grip.

"You," Gin seethed, Vince and Dejet holding him back as well.

"Yes, you both!" snapped Tejed angrily. "How the fuck do you know each other?"

"He cut off my arm!" they both yelled at the same time, each brandishing exactly one mechanical fist at the other. Tejed's face twitched and she gave the pirate's arm a good twist to settle him down, secretly hoping she'd break it.

"That didn't answer my question," she seethed angrily. "How do you _know_ _each_ _other_?"

"We met in the war," explained Gin lowly. He seemed to have called down, but Dejet and Vince were still holding him, just in case. "The very moment he swiped at me with his blasted energy sword, my katana came up and loped his arm off. Right as he did the same to me." He slowly brought his sword up through the air, emulating the way he had chopped off the pirate's arm. The movement was actually quite elegant despite its murderous arc.

"Yeah, it hurt, didn't it!" taunted the pirate. "At least I got a nice replacement, upgraded and everything."

To emphasize his point the pirate swung the claws of his mechanical hand forwards from their laid back position, transforming his hand into some sort of robotic space lobster look alike. He sneered at Gin, almost as if to say that his arm was better than Gin's. The hunter in question glared back but didn't fall for the bait. Arm stealing pirate or not, they were still in a frigate and they still needed to escape. Now was not the time for petty revenge.

Gin sheathed his sword and took a deep breath to calm himself while Tejed gave the pirate's arm another, stronger twist. Something cracked in his arm and the pirate cried out in sudden pain. Tejed just grinned.

"And you still haven't told me how you know English or my name," hissed the hybrid.

"I was…I was the lead scientist on Project TransFuse," said the pirate slowly. He sounded ashamed of himself and half turned to look at Tejed. "I was your personal keeper when you were here. I was the one who operated on you. I was the one-" For a brief moment he choked on his mangled English. "-I was the one…Who did _this_ to you."

"And the English?"

"I read a lot of reports, did a lot of research," he replied quickly. Blood had started to seep out of his arm's carapace. "I learned a forbidden language, just so I could talk to you."

"Why?" Tejed snarled. Even though she knew Dejet was still with them, she didn't care. For this pirate, her personal surgeon and scientist, she was about ready to kill him in more violent ways than she had ever imagined, sister or not watching. "So you could understand my cries for help? My anguished screams to _stop the pain_?"

"No…So I could tell you it's alright."

"Tell me it's alright?" she screamed. "Nothing's alright! My life is fucked and it's _all_ _your_ _fault_! If it weren't for you and your species' twisted ideals I wouldn't be here! I wouldn't be like this! I'd still be like _her_!" Tejed pointed a shaking hand at her sister and laughed, an inhuman, maniacal sound. "You broke my mind as well as my body! What else do you want from me?"

Without warning she grabbed the pirate's other arm, his steel and rivet one, and started to pull slowly, determined to make him feel as much pain as she had when she had woken up on their operating table. She finally recognized his half metal face and his elegantly curled antennae. It was _him_. _He _was the one who had been looming over her, a syringe full of phazon in one claw. _He_ was the one who had visited her every day in her cell, only to tranquilize her and drag her to another room for another infusion. _He _was the one she had spared months ago. Finally she had a face to the pain, and she would enjoy decimating it.

"What's your name, _pirate_?" she spat angrily. Both Gin and Vince had wrapped their arms around her in an effort to pull her away, to make her stop. The pirate knew things, he could help them out of here. But Tejed was too blinded by rage to see that.

"Z-Zotch'Ti," he stammered. Tejed didn't let up on her torture. "Please, Tejed…Don't kill me. I-I…I never _wanted_ you to feel pain…Not in a million years, n-not ever…_Please_…"

"Don't kill him, Tejed!" yelled Gin. "We need him to get out of here!"

But trying to pull Tejed off of the pirate was about as easy as pulling a derailed train out of the ocean and back onto dry land. She didn't budge an inch and continued with his slow death, all the while grinning maniacally. Another sharp crack, this time of steel breaking, and his mechanical arm suddenly stopped working.

"Any last words, _pirate_?" He was not Zotch'Ti, he didn't have a name. Filthy creatures like him only went by 'pirate' in Tejed's fevered mind. He tried to speak but found he couldn't, the pain was too intense.

"Good," breathed Tejed. "Because I really hate your voice."

"Tejed."

The hybrid abruptly stopped and looked down. Gin and Vince were still trying to pull her free, to no avail. Of all the people in the world, fate had decided to stick her here with two ex-super soldiers, a Hunter and an insane robot who currently weren't with them, and a withered sister. And her sister was the only one who could stop her.

Gently Tejed released the pirate and fell to her knees. Despite his earlier anger at Zotch'Ti, Gin had grabbed him and was nursing his wounds, Vince close beside. Tenderly Dejet took hold of her sister's face and twisted it so they were staring at each other.

"Why did you do that, Tejed?" she asked quietly.

"Because I'm insane," was her blunt reply. She was staring at the ground, unable to return her sister's gaze and ashamed of herself. She was always ashamed of herself anymore. It would like some ugly disease.

"You really are, aren't you…?"

Zotch'Ti, despite a broken mechanical arm and an organic arm that could've been in better shape, looked none the worse for wear. Tejed shed a tear.

"It's alright, Tejed," said Dejet comfortingly. She had pulled the hybrid forward into a hug. "No matter what happens, I'll still love you."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive."

Tejed finally gave in and looked at her sister's face, noticing for the first time the toll her year here had taken. In her joy at reuniting, she had failed to notice her sister's sunken eyes, her pale skin, or the scars and wounds all over her slender and thin frame. Dejet had become a mere shell of her former self, though her spirit was still there. Top lip pulling into that same cold sneer Tejed turned her hateful eyes to the pirate that had dared present himself to her and stood.

"Hurt anyone, _anyone_, and you'll find yourself with _two_ mechanical monstrosities instead of one. _Got_ _it_?" Zotch'Ti nodded quickly, his antennae bobbing up and down, and satisfied Tejed looked away from him. She was sick and tired of seeing his face and the sooner he told them how to escape, the sooner she could ditch her sister for a few minutes and slowly kill him.

"_You'll enjoy that, won't you?"_asked the voice slyly.

"Don't you start up," she hissed quietly, hoping her sister hadn't heard. She glanced back. Nothing. Good. She turned her hateful attention back to the doctor. "So which way do we go, _pirate_?"

Zotch'Ti did some quick calculations and hesitantly pointed down a side hall with a shaking, almost defunct organic arm.

"Th-that way," he stuttered. "But I have to warn you, th-"

"I don't care," snapped Tejed. She had already started down the side hall.

"But-"

"-_Two_ synthetic arms, _pirate_. _Two_."

"But I-"

"Shut the fuck up!" yelled Tejed angrily. Zotch'Ti winced and didn't say anything more. Tejed had rounded on the poor pirate, coming close to killing him again. One look at Dejet, though, quelled her simmering rage and reluctantly she let him be.

"You're lucky I'm not alone," she whispered harshly. She turned back to the side hall and abruptly stumbled, almost fell into the wall. Yes, she was indeed still tipsy. Now she no longer wondered how much it would take to get her hammered, now all she cared about was how long it would stay in her system. Quickly she glanced back at the small group, hoping they hadn't seen her trip up. They had.

"What the hell are you staring at?" she snapped, glaring at Zotch'Ti. He shrank under her stern gaze but Gin held him in place.

"You just tripped, Tejed," replied Gin quietly.

"I didn't trip, there was a _gravity surge,"_she replied angrily, raising her arm in much the same way a mad scientist would for effect.

"No, you tripped," pressed Gin. He sounded vaguely suspicious and was approaching her, the pirate held tightly in his grasp. Behind him Vincent whispered something to Dejet and gently grasped her hand. If Gin wasn't here, Tejed would have flipped on Vince for so much as looking at her sister. "On level ground, Tejed. I saw you. What's wrong?"

He stopped in front of her and stared up. She snarled angrily at him but he didn't flinch and once again Tejed realized how much she absolutely hated that.

"Why the fuck do you even care?" she hissed.

"You're still angry at me?" he asked, defeated. Tejed leaned down and glared at him.

"Take a wild guess, Aussie." Slowly she turned her gaze back to the pirate, getting progressively angrier. "All I feel anymore is anger. What little happiness I have is snatched away by my insanity. _You_, my dear pirate. I blame you for _everything_."

Zotch'Ti winced at her cold voice but didn't say anything. He knew what she was capable of and how her shattered mind worked. He had, after all, spent a year with her, slowly turning her into the monstrosity that she was under the orders of High Command. He would have replied, but his devastated arm and his half metal face reminded him that she wasn't exactly harmless. Shuddering slightly he tenderly held his broken arm and stared resolutely at the floor. Tejed snorted at him and straightened up again, catching sight of Vince comforting Dejet. The poor woman looked close to tears and instantly Tejed's anger melted away.

"Nothing's wrong," she muttered, turning back down the hall for a third time. She couldn't stand seeing that other bastard Aussie touching her sister like that and she couldn't stand Gin's insistence to be her friend. But above all else, she couldn't get the sound of her sister's scream out of her head when she had rounded angrily on Zotch'Ti. The hybrid had heard screams on many occasions and actually quite liked the sound, but a scream directed at her, and by her sister no less, expressing nothing but fear…

"_Your emotions are getting in the way again…"_ commented the voice. It had been listening in to her thoughts, peeking into dark corners of her mind that she preferred to keep hidden. _"If anything that other human is more obnoxious than the couple of Aussies. Change of plans, Ms. Jenal. She's the new target for time being, high priority. If anyone can cut you down, it's her…" _

"She's my sister, I can't kill her," whispered Tejed. She had allowed Gin to take the lead down the new hallway and was stuck in the rear.

"_But she's dangerous…" _

"_You're _dangerous," snapped Tejed, a little too loud. Gin ignored her and continued walking, used to her one sided conversations. Dejet, on the other hand, sort of half turned to look at her, curious and the tiniest bit frightened. Vince was walking protectively beside her and absently fingered the mirror shard in his pocket, just in case.

"Tell me the truth, Tejed," said Dejet quietly. "Are you alright?"

"_You're horribly sick, Ms. Jenal. I can attest to that…" _

"I'm…Fine…" she replied uncertainly. Not amused by being brushed off, the voice huffed and became silent for the time being. Dejet didn't seem convinced at all.

"Are you sure?" she asked, slowing to a stop. "I read the reports, you know. TransFuse was said to be a horribly insane creation. Is that true…?"

"…It might be…" Tejed stumbled again and crashed loudly into the wall. Gin abruptly halted and turned towards the sudden sound, resisting the urge to facepalm. Tejed was staring woozily at the ground, a hand to her head, with Dejet trying to get her back on her feet. At that exact point in time Gin knew exactly what was wrong with Tejed and gave into the urge to facepalm.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Zotch'Ti tentatively, disregarding the fact that he was talking to an old, old rival. Gin sighed and started walking towards her, ignoring the pirate for the time being. When he finally reached her he looked crossly at her.

"Are you drunk, Tejed?" he asked, a disapproving tone to his voice. The hybrid finally found her feet again and Dejet stayed close to her while Vince retreated to the opposite side of Gin.

"Define 'drunk'," the hybrid retorted. She was starting to lean sideways, back towards the wall. Gently Dejet took hold of her hands and pulled her back, smirking. Something about Tejed being drunk struck her as hilarious, especially when she had never done anything of the sort when she had been human.

"How much did you drink?"

Tejed sighed and started counting on her fingers, muttering as she did so.

"I think it was…Three bottles. _Maybe_ four." She stared angrily at him but he didn't budge. "Really crappy stuff, if you ask me. The barkeep promised it was the rarest, strongest stuff in the galaxy but all it did was make me slightly unbalanced."

It took a moment for what she had said to process in Gin's brain.

"You…Went to a bar?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," she snorted. "Where else am I going to get alcohol? From _Jarvis_? He'll just whine at me!"

"God fucking damnit, Tejed!" yelled Gin angrily, letting go of the pirate's arm. He never swore unless he was pumped up on experimental drugs. Or intensely angry. This was the latter. "Are you fucking stupid, or something? You went into a bar? In _public_? Were you at least wearing your suit?"

"No," she replied bluntly. Gin lost it.

"What if there were Federation people there? What if someone saw you? Oh, wait. You were at a _bar_. Of course someone saw you. _A whole building full of people saw you. _And they didn't see a hybrid that used to be human, Tejed. They saw a goddamn _Space Pirate!_ And you know what the Federation does to Space Pirates? _They kill them on sight!_! What the bloody hell were you _thinking_ at the time?"

"To be perfectly honest, Gin, I was thinking that you were a lying, filthy, backstabbing pain in the ass and I was trying my damndest to _not_ go marching back to your ship and turning you _inside_ _out_," she seethed. "I was also thinking that I'm sick and tired of constantly hiding behind a visor and the voice in my head was being particularly annoying that day. So I thought 'Hey, let's drown ourselves in some alcohol. Maybe it'll dull the pain of a _shattered_ _heart'_."

Zotch'Ti stood uncertainly by himself, unsure if he should make a run for it or stay. Except for the Vince standing dejectedly beside him, everyone's attention was turned on Gin and the apparently halfway drunk hybrid. If he so wanted to, he could high tail it back to his commanding officer and forget everything that had happened, tell him where TransFuse was and get on with his life. But that was just it. He didn't want to. He wanted to stay here and convince Tejed that he was deeply sorry for everything he had ever done. He wanted to redeem himself.

Angrily, Tejed had decided to ignore Gin for the time being and had shooed him back to the front, glaring at him the whole way. What the hell did he care of she got drunk, anyway? It was her malformed body, she could do whatever she damn well felt like to it. And if she wanted to get herself killed by Federation soldiers by going out in public, then she was going to do just that. With or without Gin's 'permission'. Still fuming at her idiotic choice, Gin gently grabbed the pirate by the arm and began the trek down the maze like hallways again, Dejet behind him and Vince by her side. As per usual the hybrid took up the rear, muttering quietly to herself the whole way. Vince glanced back at her a few times before finally speaking up again.

"So, uh…Tejed," started Vince for a third time. He had a burning question that needed an answer and he was adamant to get it. The hybrid stopped and stared angrily at him but didn't make any indication of an attack. Shakily Vince continued. "So, uh…What's with the neck b-brace? How'd you get it?" She was silent for a moment, her deadpan gaze going to Gin.

"Your filthy excuse for a brother broke my neck," she hissed. Gin held his hands up defensively but didn't say anything. "Snapped it like a twig and cast it aside."

"I did not cast you aside," he muttered. "I was the one who _made_ your brace in the first place."

Tejed ignored him and rudely pushed past, taking up the lead again. Still slightly hurt, Gin grabbed Zotch'Ti by the arm and pulled him along, Vince close by. Dejet ran up a ways and began talking quietly with her sister. Chuckling, Vince clapped a hand on Gin's shoulder and grinned at him.

"You didn't _really_ break her neck, did you?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," he replied tiredly. If they stopped anymore to argue with each other Gin was sure he was going to blow a gasket. Normally he hated arguing, but arguing on a pirate vessel just topped the cake. Secretly he wished Samus were here, but she was currently elsewhere on the ship, doing who knows what. Samus could stop the arguing just like that. All she had to do was look at Tejed, then at Gin, and there was no more arguing. And Gin loved that about her.

Something banged off in the distance, a loud, metallic sound that traveled through the frigate's complex vent system until it reached the ramshackle group, its volume not diminished in the least. Tejed stopped dead and looked around, her ears fluttering. She didn't like it. The sound was not the usual banging and creaking of an old frigate close to death, it was pirate-made. Something alive had created it. Zotch'Ti had winced at the noise, suddenly terrified.

"We have to get out of here," he said loudly so they could all hear. All eyes turned to him and Tejed snarled. "High Command sent it after you, after us. It won't rest unt-"

"-Put a sock in it," whispered Tejed threateningly.

"But it's after you, it's aft-"

"I thought I made it clear that I hate your voice."

"Yes, but-"

"-_Shut the fuck up._ You're making my head hurt."

For a crazed hybrid, Tejed was really good at ignoring people, especially Gin and this intolerable pirate. Snarling she had turned angrily back to the front and was about to continue down the hall, if not for one slight, little problem. It was standing there quietly, calmly, framed in the darkness at the end of the hall. Tejed paused and glanced back at her friends: they saw it too. She looked back at the thing, her left eye twitching. A thing, a monstrosity, in a pirate vessel, always equaled trouble. Every single time. And by the way its six eyes glowed a dull, phazon infused blue told her that this one wasn't any different. She glanced back at the pirate, noting the way he was shuddering with fear. Her eyes narrowed.

"You sent this, didn't you?" she hissed. Ashamed, Zotch'Ti lowered his head and Tejed huffed angrily, turned back to the creature. It hadn't moved yet and she found its mannerisms incredibly disturbing. Quickly she unsheathed her scythes and stepped in front of Dejet in case the creature should suddenly attack.

"Dejet, go with Vince," instructed Tejed, still staring at the creature. It still hadn't moved but she could hear its ragged breathing. It was waiting for something. "Both him and you are too weak to fight. Get to cover. Me and Gin will handle this."

"But Tejed…" Dejet sounded horribly frightened. Gently she took hold of her sister's arm.

"No, go with him. He's an ass and I hate his guts but he can protect you." Dejet didn't let go and with a sigh Tejed finally averted her eyes. "I…I don't want you to see what I can do," she said gently. "What the monster inside me is capable of…"

"If it gets us out of here, then I'm all for it. I don't care."

"I also don't want you to get hurt," replied the hybrid softly. "I don't want to go into a blood rage and accidentally hurt you…I'd…I'd never forgive myself if that happened."

The creature was still immobile, like a statue. It was staring straight at Tejed, as if waiting for her to confront it alone. Dejet glanced at the creature then back at Vince, and nodded. She let go of the hybrid's arm and ran back to Vince before they both disappeared into a side room, leaving exactly two hunters and a scared shitless space pirate with one hulking monstrosity.

"I hate you so much right now, Gin," she said suddenly, still staring the thing down. The hunter did what he always did when Tejed randomly decided to blame him. He instantly went on the defensive.

"What the hell did I do?" he cried incredulously.

"Nothing. I'm always angry, it's how I am. So by proxy I'd hate you. And _you_," she seethed, addressing Zotch'Ti. "I sorely want to slowly pull out your spine for what you did, but I'll save that for later. More pressing matters, you know. Giant ugly monster and all that."

"Go for the eyes," whispered Zotch'Ti loudly, ignoring her death threat. "It relies almost exclusively on sight. Go for the eyes and the beast will follow."

Snarling angrily at his rough English, Tejed reluctantly tapped into her insanity, her eyes instantly bursting into flame. The voice immediately woke up and barged itself to the front like an eager puppy. She staggered slightly but managed to keep herself under control.

"_Is it play time?"_it asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it is," she replied quietly, the twin scythes replacing themselves with a chainsaw. She revved it a few times, the loud noise causing Gin to flinch and the creature to finally move. It took a small step towards her and raised its mutated head. Tejed could finally see it for what it was. It was a mutation, an experiment like her, except this one was originally a pirate. No doubt a pirate that had volunteered himself for their twisted experiments, that had looked forward to this day for a very, very long time. This beast was nothing like her, as the others had been. It was full of hate and rage and didn't possess a shred of ethics. It was mindless and evil and had been sent after her. She stopped revving her weapon.

"You want me, you ugly piece of shit?" she yelled down the hall, snickering to herself. "I'm not going anywhere, come and get me. Maybe I'll introduce you to my little friend, here. I call him 'The Ravager'." She revved her chainsaw again and the monster's muscles tensed. Beside her Gin had drawn his sword but he didn't look happy with the situation.

"Tejed, I don't think insulting it's a good idea," he said uncertainly. It took another step towards them.

"Oh, pshaw," she scoffed. "It loves being called names, don't you, Twinkletoes?"

Suddenly it ran at her, hideous chitinous face bearing no emotion save hate. Its charge was so fast it caught her completely off guard and threw her to the floor, the back of her head hitting the hard ground with a loud, almost sickening crack. She could feel one of the bolts from her brace come loose and had to keep herself from crying out in pain. The creature had pinned her down and brought its face close, tried to bite hers off, but the brace got in the way and its mangled teeth got caught. Jumping on this chance, Tejed sliced upwards with her chainsaw, hoping to disembowel it, but her weapon merely ricocheted off its hard chest plate in a shower of sparks.

"Gin, a little help here!" she yelled angrily. A big glob of phazon infused drool splatted onto her forehead and she wrinkled her face in disgust. "You filthy fucking pirate…"

"I'm sorry, Tejed!" yelled the hunter back. "But my sword's just as useless as your chainsaw, apparently." As if to accentuate his point, he sliced at the mutated pirate's back, his katana bouncing harmlessly off its armour with a hollow clang and a brief flash of electric light. Tejed swore convulsively, not at the fact that Gin was apparently useless, she already knew _that_, but because the electricity from his sword had traveled unharmed through the creature and into her. And she wasn't shock proof.

"G-Gin you a-ass!" she yelled angrily, the electricity dancing off her slowly breaking neck brace. Gin winced at what he had inadvertently done and held back for a moment.

"Sorry," he squeaked out feebly. Somehow, amid its fervoured scratching and biting and the residual electricity currently chattering her teeth together, Tejed managed to get one of her feet up and against the thing's chest. She was sick and tired of being pinned down.

"Get your fucking fangs away from me," she hissed, kicking it away from her. Its teeth momentarily snagged on her brace, almost pulling it from her head. This time she didn't hold back and screamed in agony, a hideous mixture of human and space pirate. Dejet winced in the other room and Vince gently held her. A bolt was wrenched from Tejed's skull with the sound of breaking bone and the brace hung at an awkward angle, blood hissing against it. Shaking, she slowly stood and clutched at it. It was still on strong enough to keep her neck in place, but if this torture continued it wouldn't be for much longer. The pirate mutation crashed against the floor and quickly found its feet, prepared itself for another attack as Tejed regained her composure. A drop of the blood now streaming down her face hit the ground and promptly ate right through, leaving a narrow little hole not even an inch across.

"Well that's interesting," she muttered. Her blood never ate straight through things. It always lost its potency halfway through and left tiny little divots, like pockmarks in stone. On the same topic, her neck brace was getting pretty unstable, too. It seemed as though her blood was having a merry time corroding the steel rods away to nothing, leaving gaping holes in them. The brace sagged heavily to the side but stayed in place. The creature, on the other hand… It launched itself at her again and pinned her to the wall. It ignored Gin's attempts to drive it away, dead set on Tejed.

"_Our blood is more acidic than usual, Ms. Jenal,"_ said the voice slyly. _"But you already figured that out. The only question is: Why…?" _It snickered, as if it knew something crucial that she hadn't figured out yet.

She ignored the voice, her focus taken by the mutation. It tried biting her head again, but the brace got in the way as it had before. Evidently brawn did not equal brains, or it would know its teeth would only get caught. Or maybe it wasn't as stupid as it looked. Either way, the brace began to buckle under the strain, pushing itself tighter and tighter against Tejed's skull. She winced in pain but didn't scream this time, instead let out a gurgled, chattered cry of agony.

Zotch'Ti flinched at the harsh sound. He would have helped, but his prosthetic arm was broken and his other arm was useless. He staved back the flood of tears that was threatening to spill out of his organic eye.

"Go for its eyes, Tejed!" he yelled hoarsely. He saw her look at him but she was in too much pain to reply. Gin would have done as the pirate said in Tejed's place, but the mutation was hunched over her in just such a way that he risked her life, as well. All he could do was attack in the hopes that some of its armour broke off, left a weak spot, and ignore the fact that he was simultaneously electrocuting the hybrid, as well. Zotch'Ti shuddered and retreated to the room the other two were hidden in. If Tejed died, then he was as good as dead, as well.

"_You heard what he said, Ms. Jenal. Go for the eyes. Use the acid that runs through your veins. Cripple it with the blood that it so carelessly spills…" _

It's the phazon, Tejed realized with a jolt. Somehow her internal phazon levels must have escalated, an occurrence that was mirrored in her blood's acidity. The mutation continued its slow crush, intent on rending her skull in twain. Tejed grinned and somehow managed to get a hand free, a hand she wiped purposely across her bloodied face. One of the brace's wires snapped and another bolt came loose but she ignored the excruciating pain.

"Use the blood, eh?" she rasped. One of the pirate's six glowing eyes swiveled to look at her and she saw a faint glimmer of intelligence behind the radiation. It wasn't as mindless as she had originally surmised. She hoped it wasn't too strong against acid, either. Still grinning Tejed smeared the blood across the right side of its face, covering all three of its eyes in the process. The effect was instantaneous. It abruptly released its hold and staggered backwards, the entire side of its face smoking and hissing as it was corroded away. It screamed in agony and fell to its hands, its own face melting into a steaming pile of organic mush with the sound of hissing, like gas escaping broken pipes.

"What the hell did you do, Tejed?" Gin inquired, his sword held uselessly by his side. He sounded out of breath.

"Armour is no match for acid," she replied smugly, flinging her blood to the floor with a hiss. Now that it was crippled, she could end its life once and for all. It fell heavily to the ground and stopped breathing. She frowned. She had been so looking forwards to ending its life with a well aimed kick to the head. Now if only she could find out why her phazon levels had escalated so much in such a short time. It was almost as if her body was preparing itself for something, but what, she had no idea.

"_Does the word phazon mean anything to you…?"_whispered the voice, chuckling slightly. _"Carcinogenic mutation, side effects being insanity and a lost mind? Will you ignore it? Or will you give in...?" _

Sighing Tejed pushed herself out of Berserker and retracted her chainsaw. The creature was dead, its face eaten away and its glowing, phazon corrupted brain all too visible. Tejed caught a whiff of acrid chemicals and briefly wondered if that's what her brain looked like, as well. Laced with delicate veins of corruption and just waiting to snap. It was too much for her to think about and quickly she turned away from the corpse. Hesitantly Gin sheathed his katana, feeling very useless. The thing had come close to killing Tejed and all he had done was whack feebly at it with what amounted to a fancy glowing knife. And electrocute her.

"How's your neck, Tejed?" he asked gently.

"Sore," she replied bluntly, rubbing it tiredly. He eyed the bloody and smoking bolts just barely holding the brace in place.

"And your head?" Vince peeked hesitantly out of the room, and seeing that the coast was clear and the whatever-it-was was lying there in a pile of its own blood, decided it would be a good time to leave, Dejet close beside him. It took Zotch'Ti a few seconds to exit, as well. He was not used to being so close to humans and was having a hard time being around so many of them. He just wanted to talk to Tejed.

"I am in an exorbitant amount of pain," replied the hybrid calmly, her left eye twitching and her breath ragged. All those times she had wanted to get back to her ship and just go to sleep? She no longer wanted to do that. Now she wanted to get back to her ship, get out of her bloody suit, and go buy a metric shit ton of alcohol. She didn't want to go to sleep, she wanted to pass out and forget all this had ever happened. She wanted to get hammered, then hung-over, and she wanted to wake up feeling like all this was just a bad dream.

Hesitantly Zotch'Ti approached Tejed from behind, absolutely sure she would bite the other half of his face off.

"T-Tejed…" he stuttered, wringing his hands together in a display of apprehension. The hybrid's ear twitched but she ignored him, looked down the hallway from where they had come instead. She had more pressing matters than a jumpy pirate to attend to, like the new sound that was coming from the direction they had come from. Quickly Tejed turned towards it and readied her shoulder cannon, just in case.

"_It's another pirate,"_ said the voice urgently. _"Fire off a few shots before it sees us, before you see it. Kill it where it stands…" _

"Geez, Tejed, you always assume the worst, don't you?" said Gin crossly. He was tapping away at his communicator before he finally looked up. "It's just Samus. Here, take the pirate."

He pushed Zotch'Ti at Tejed before shoving past her and heading down the hallway. Evidently he knew she was coming long before and had simply been waiting it out before she got here. The whole pirate monstrosity fiasco they had just managed to live through was a mere hurdle. The Hunter must have sent Gin a message saying she was on her way, Tejed surmised. Suddenly she was hateful. They had the whole 'love' thing going on, while Tejed was stuck watching sadly from the sidelines with feelings for one and deep respect for the other. Unconsciously her hand started to tighten against Zotch'Ti's arm and the pirate gave a small screech.

"Tejed, you're hurting me," he said quietly. The hybrid averted her gaze from the two hunters approaching them and sneered at the pirate.

"I thought I told you to shut up," she said lowly. Zotch'Ti was silent for a moment.

"Would you…would you prefer if I spoke in Zebesian…?" he offered, shifting his speech to a more comfortable language.

"I'd prefer if you didn't say anything at all," she hissed, tightening her grip even more. "Or else Id be forced to break your jaw so it never opens again."

Zotch'Ti flinched under her cruel words and Tejed grinned sadistically.

"I'd break it in three different places," she continued lowly. "First I'd just grab your jaw and give it a good yank, breaking it right off your face. Then, when you're still writhing in pain and it's still hanging by a single tendon, I'd snap your dislocated jaw in half, then I'd break it one last time and force the broken end into your mouth so you can't speak to save your life let alone move the damn thing without experiencing crippling paroxysms of pain. And you know the best part?" At this she leaned down to his level and treated him to a face-full of hot, acrid breath. "Even though you'd be in the worst pain you'd probably ever experienced, it's still not enough. I can still impart _so_ _much_ _more_."

"Tejed, what did I say about killing him?" A soft hand on her reinforced arm. Snarling the hybrid straightened back up.

"I wasn't going to kill him," she replied quietly. "I was just threatening him." Zotch'Ti looked about ready to faint and was shaking like a dog caught out in a storm. Tejed smiled smugly to herself and looked down at Dejet, then back at Vince.

"You know all about death threats, don't you, Aussie?" she inquired spitefully. Vince didn't respond and Dejet put her face in her hand, sighing. "Would you like if I threatened you instead? Give this filthy creature a break?"

"Would you like if I pulled out the mirror, Hybrid?" he finally replied, a hand in his pocket. "Because I know how much you absolutely _love_ mirrors." Tejed's smug smile faded and she growled angrily at him, pleased by the scared response it generated.

"Oh yes," she remarked quietly, bitterly. "Because I love mirrors _oh so very much_. I simply _adore_ the things…"

"Tejed, let it drop," said Dejet sternly. Tejed shuddered and turned away from him. Her sister was right, they had more pressing matters. Like deranged experiments and getting the hell out of here. And a sorry excuse for a brace that was hurting more and more as time went on. Groaning slightly she refitted the brace to a more comfortable position and addressed the couple of hunters approaching.

"Samus," she said quietly. Of all the people she was ever angry at, Samus and Dejet were the two who made her feel either happy or small. And Samus made her feel small. Tejed could never be angry at the woman who single-handedly saved her and gave her a new lease on life. No. she could only feel inferior beside her.

"There's an experiment loose," said the Hunter curtly, coming to a stop in front of Tejed. "I read some recent briefings. It's looking for you."

"I killed it."

"With what?"

"My blood," she replied happily.

"Where is it then?" Tejed pointed over her shoulder at the faceless carcass still steaming on the ground. Samus peered past her but just looked back, confused.

"Tejed…There's nothing there," she said bluntly. Confused, Tejed turned, as well. The floor was stained black and red and was covered in holes and pockmarks, but the dead monstrosity was gone. All that remained were a few curling wisps of steam, but those quickly faded, as well.

"But…But I killed it!" cried Tejed, thoroughly bewildered. "I smeared my blood all over its face and its face melted off and I could see its filthy excuse for a phazon corrupted brain and…And…Damnit!" She kicked the floor angrily and grabbed one of her ears, her eye twitching. Zotch'Ti remained in her grasp, and he looked very miserable. "I know I should have curb stomped its skull into the ground when I had the chance. Filthy thing must have regenerated!"

"Phazon regeneration," muttered Zotch'Ti dejectedly. "I tried to warn you about that but you didn't listen…"

"And why don't _I _have phazon regeneration?" seethed Tejed angrily. "I'm chock full of the stuff. Or did you not want me to survive…?" The pirate winced but didn't say anything. Samus looked at him curiously. A pirate that spoke English as well as Zebesian? Never in her life had she come across such a thing. She always did wonder if there were some pirates who deigned to learn forbidden languages, but she never gave it much thought. She was always too busy decimating them in much the same matter that Tejed did, only less bloody and more efficiently.

Zotch'Ti shivered under her gaze. Like everyone else, he had been told a lot about the Hunter clad in orange, had been fed his species' lies. He had been told how ruthless she was and how she lacked emotions of any kind. She was a cold, heartless killing machine, and all she lived for was killing pirates, exacting her revenge. No one knew what drived her and no one knew why she was so determined, but it was the fact that she was that scared Zotch'Ti so much. Now he had a hybrid _and_ a Hunter to try and find peace with, as well as another hunter who was missing an arm thanks to him. Poor pirate had too much on his plate.

As per usual, or mayhap some strange law of the universe no one had quite figured out yet, the hybrid was the one who heard it a split second before it showed up. And it didn't just show up, oh no. It decided to suddenly crash through the near wall and make a swipe at Dejet. Quick as a flash Tejed had jumped in front of her sister and had taken the brunt of the blow, the mutated pirate's razor claws leaving thick gouges in her suit's chest piece. She felt its claws brush her skin, their razor tips leaving shallow little furrows in her flesh. She stumbled back before growling lowly and unsheathing her scythes. Two attacks in one day was two too many, especially when the second one had been originally aimed at her sister.

"I've got this, Tejed," said Gin, stepping in front of her. Instead of his sword he was wielding his staff, and he sounded determined.

"No Gin, I-"

"-You're hurt, Tejed," he interjected. Deftly he whacked the monster across the face as it charged him, keeping it at bay. "And your sister needs protection. I've got it."

Reluctantly the hybrid retreated to her terrified sister and hunkered down with her, using her body as a shield.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly. Dejet was shivering and shuddering in shear fright, her eyes wide as she watched Gin fend off the pirate monstrosity.

"I-I'm t-terrified," she choked out. Tejed chuckled.

"Welcome to my everyday life," she replied grimly. Unknown to her, Vince had somehow managed to worm his way beside Dejet, much to the hybrid's chagrin. She growled at him but let him be. As long as her sister was safe, the other damn Aussie didn't matter to her.

"_What are you doing sitting on the sidelines, protecting these useless bags of flesh?"_ the voice asked curiously. _"You should be out there, ripping that hideous monstrosity to shreds. You should be under the influence of your phazon, of me. So what if you kill it too quick? There's always that Aussie you can rip apart…"_

Tejed shook her head quickly in an effort to quell the voice. She could feel it scrabbling around, trying to find a good hold on her mind where it could start picking away.

"_You're resisting again. I don't understand why you cling so desperately to your last remaining scraps of quickly vanishing humanity. You're above these creatures by leaps and bounds, why do you not see this…?" _

It found a weak spot and jabbed one of its claws in, causing her to flinch slightly, her eye starting to twitch.

"Now's…Not a good time…" she whispered harshly. One of her hands was lying protectively on Dejet's shoulder. That exact hand decided it would be a really good time to start trembling uncontrollably. Dejet jumped slightly at the feel of Tejed's trembling hand and looked up at her. The sound of breaking bone echoed around the corridor followed by rapid fire cannon fire. The creature screamed in rage.

"Are _you _alright, Tejed…?" asked Dejet cautiously. Gently she grabbed the hybrid's trembling claw and held it tenderly.

"I'm f-fine," she replied shakily. Without warning the voice jabbed its other fang in and she gasped in sudden pain, almost doubling over from it. Her brace tapped against the wall and she contemplated tearing it off. There were only three bolts left in place, anyhow. They wouldn't hurt anymore than the last three had. Vince shifted uncomfortably beside Dejet but kept quiet. He didn't like where this was going.

"_Give in to the phazon, Ms. Jenal. Let it take over, let out the beast that you're so desperately trying to hide…" _

"Let's not and say we did, okay?"

"Who are you talking to…?" Dejet was still holding Tejed's hand. Its tremors had increased in strength and were threatening to travel up her arm. Another loud screech and the pirate mutation toppled over, its eyes blown out by Samus' cannon fire. Quickly it got back up, now blinded.

"I didn't want you to see me like this…" whispered Tejed lowly. Already her voice had become warped and deep and she was holding her other hand to her head. Vince glanced over his shoulder at a nearby open door then back at the shuddering hybrid.

"_Come on…" _insisted the voice.

"No…" she whimpered.

"_But you're useless against it, and you have so much phazon just begging for release,"_ it continued in its wheedling tone. _"Here, let me help you…"_

It grabbed suddenly at her mind, tearing it right open and exposing it to the phazon. It was like the floodgates had been suddenly opened, allowing a deluge of pure, unadulterated power to come raging through. Angrily Tejed grabbed at her brace. Without a second thought she tore the damn thing straight from her skull to a chorus of cracking bone and snapping flesh, oblivious to the pain. She was above pain now. Quickly Vince scrambled up and grabbed Dejet's arm, pulling her away. She resisted for a second before following him.

"I've seen her like this before," Vince said quickly in response to her confused look. He pulled her into a side room and peered around the corner. The massive influx of raw phazon had healed Tejed's broken neck in a matter of seconds, along with her arm and whatever other injuries she had sustained. Lucky her. She really _did _have phazon regeneration. "You're sister's not exactly the same anymore."

Tendrils of corruption snaked across Tejed's face and her eyes had become twin points of cold, seething white, no longer aflame but still burning with no doubt infinite rage. No longer did she see the world in that washed out red that Berserker always brought on, now it was lit up in neon blues and whites, every beating heart and pumping vein standing out in almost blazing red.

For a moment Tejed was utterly confused, so much so that she failed to notice the raw power coursing though her body, power that rivaled her old Berserker mode by leaps and bounds. All she knew was that this had never, in all her time as an illegal experiment, happened before, and it was overwhelming. The dramatically altered sight? She could easily get used to that. The greatly increased smell and hearing? Easy, as well. Actually quite useful. The urge to rip everything to shreds, an urge she couldn't ignore and had a sneaking suspicion she couldn't control, either? That's where she had a problem.

That's why Tejed enjoyed Berserker mode. She could control it. She could go on her insane little rampages, and even though sometimes she mistook Samus or Gin for a pirate, she could always break off at the last second and kill some real pirates, she could always recognize them and ignore the voice. Sometimes she let herself go, but that was only when she was alone, and she could still control her every action. They were just frenzied. She could always say no, she could always exit it, and she could always willingly enter it again. In some twisted sort of way, embracing her insanity was almost welcoming. She enjoyed it.

But this? She didn't know what the hell this was, and she wasn't sure if she would enjoy it or not. It had been a sudden boot to go from Berserker mode to…Whatever the hell this was. She could almost feel the phazon running through her bloodstream like a runaway train and it was annoying. She wanted to rip her own veins out to quell the irritating sensation. That or go on a rampage. And a rampage, in her lost mind, was looking like a really good idea. But her suspicions had been correct. She couldn't control it. And enjoying and controlling were two completely different things. But that was alright, because she had forgotten everything, too. As of now she was the weapon of destruction she had been bred as, cold and merciless as ever. And she had lost it.

Just like the pirates had wanted.

The funny thing about insanity, is that insane people usually don't realize they're insane. Mayhap that made Tejed a special case. She knew she was sick and she had been doing everything in her power to stave it off. She could feel the little voice growing more powerful and every time she looked in the mirror she could see her sickness rising. It seemed as though all her actions were in vain. Despite her fighting she had still succumbed and with a sickening jolt in her diseased mind realized, hell, she was going to be insane forever! May as well get used to it!

And the phazon? She had come to the conclusion that the phazon had caused this. Always pumping throughout her system, it must have hit critical levels, and in an attempt to dispel it her body had done this. Either that or the voice found a new, frightening way to take control. There was so much phazon that it had started to creep across her face like a glowing radioactive web, and it was, in all actuality, quite terrifying. Maybe this would wear off when her phazon stores were depleted. Maybe not.

Either way there were no pirates here save for Zotch'Ti and Tejed was alone with her newfound power, and with nothing to vent it on. The shuddering spasms she experienced in Berserker? They were ten times worse like this. She shook from head to toe, confused and vaguely disoriented. Her muscles were spasming and twitching without control and she felt like her skin was on fire. She needed something to release it on or else she was afraid she was going to die like this.

Ah, the big pirate, the monstrosity her friends had gone after. Was it still…? The room was more or less empty and the monstrosity's circulatory system lit up like a red Christmas tree. She grinned sadistically. That might be enough, she mused, enough to stop the insanity from taking over once and for all, to cut her off from the phazon and end this. Still grinning she activated her chainsaw and sprinted towards it.

Tejed realized the scariest thing about her whole ordeal was the lack of any noise she made. Usually she'd be laughing and swearing and all out screaming. She hadn't uttered a single sound. Maybe a dull hiss here or an agitated growl there, but she hadn't said anything. It wasn't that she couldn't, it was simply that she didn't want to. She didn't want to ruin the whole experience with outright shouting. Despite how far gone she had slipped into her phazon induced madness, she was calm. This was the calmest she had ever been in years. And that scared her. She was calm, but she was out of control.

Contradictory? Yes. Scary? Hells yeah. Did it make any sense to her fevered brain? Nope. But she didn't care.

She continued to pummel the monstrosity's body long after she had killed it. Poor thing never stood a chance against her. Samus and Gin held back, watching her with fear and disgust. Fools, she thought. Couldn't even defeat this insignificant pest. Slowly its vitals stopped and its once neon red system faded into the same blue and white as everything around it. It ceased to exist. Her head snapped up. There were still two living creatures left, two items of prey she could expend her energy on. Good. She was actually starting to enjoy this.

Grinning maniacally and her mouth frothing at the corners she stood and approached them slowly, dragging her chainsaw across the wall. It threw up a shower of sparks as she walked and her back was slightly hunched. The two hunters quickly backed up, one of them aiming at the hybrid with her cannon.

"Stay back, Tejed," she warned. "If I have to kill you, then so be it."

No response. Tejed didn't say anything, just continued her slow advance. She was in no hurry, though her crazed eyes said otherwise. She wanted to rip them to shreds, yes, but right now the act of terrifying them was equally satisfying. They looked…Oddly familiar, but the stray thought was quickly wiped from her mind.

"_None of that now,"_ chided the voice smugly. It was having a ball right now.

She chuckled but didn't say anything. My, these two were persistent to live, weren't they? Tejed could help them, if they wanted, help them to rid themselves of the itchy wet skin of life. And even if they didn't want her most generous help, well, she would help them anyway.

It seemed as though the onset of something even more deranged than Berserker had changed her body, as well as her mind. Whereas in Berserker her eyes merely caught on fire and she grew stronger, in this her teeth had grown sharper and more savage, her mouth had devolved just a little bit more into an insectoid monstrosity, and her features were just a little more rugged. Sure, her eyes tended to sink into her head and make her look dead tired in Berserker, but now she looked like a murderous beast hell-bent on destruction.

Something flashed out of the corner of her stark white eye and she stopped, curiously turned towards it. Two more maps of veins and arteries, over by the door. They looked equally terrified, and she couldn't help but wonder why. She just wanted to play with them, wanted to unleash her power on them, show them what she could do. Her body was still gripped by the almost violent tremors and her skin still itched all to hell, but she ignored it and returned her attention to the first two, still smiling. She would get the others. These two wanted to be first.

"Tejed Jenal," said the other slowly, his voice quaking almost like her body. "Remember who you are, Tejed. You're not a pirate, you're not insane, you're Tejed. We're your friends. Do you remember…?"

She stopped and cocked her head to the side. What was it talking about? Friends? What were they supposed to be? Things to play with, to torture, to execute? Of course! It all made sense now. These were her friends. All the pirates she had just killed had been her friends, too. So had the big monstrosity back there. Friends were the people she showed her power to. Friends were the people who got to see it firsthand.

Friends were the people who all died in the end.

"I don't think she understands us," whispered the one with the cannon. "She's under the influence of her phazon, now. She's entered Hyper mode. She…She's gone."

So that's what it was called: Hyper mode. When the phazon grew too strong to control it had to be let out somehow. A particularly violent tremor overtook her and she faltered in mid step. But she still managed to smile. Enough dawdling. The phazon was growing too fast and she had to expend it. Without a sound she leapt forwards and pinned the two hunters to the wall, her chainsaw revving hungrily. Samus half expected Gin to start begging for his life. He was a good man, she gave him that much, but he couldn't be as calm and collected as he made himself out to be. He had to have his cracking point. And evidently this was not it. Instead of breaking down he merely stared Tejed right in the blazing white eyes and didn't flinch in the least at her hot, chemical breath.

"Kill me if you want," he wheezed. "But don't even _think _about laying a single mutated claw on Samus."

Samus cocked an eyebrow underneath her visor but said nothing. No one had ever put themselves before her in such a way, and the only other man who had was long dead. Despite the seriousness of the situation she allowed herself a thin little smile. That was all she needed. Gin was indeed a good man.

The chainsaw was already on a collision course with the man's head when the phazon ran out, and eyes suddenly bursting into flame then going out again she gasped, averting the weapon at the last second. It buried itself in the wall beside Gin's head. He stared at it briefly before looking back at the hybrid. Tejed wrenched the chainsaw from the wall and backed up, exhaling a large cloud of phazon mist in the process.

"What…Just happened?" she muttered, a blood drenched hand going to her head. Her vision was fading back to normal and the tendrils of phazon were retreating from her face. Her eyes shone dull yellow again and her breath puffed out in clouds of light blue. The expenditure of her excess phazon left her dead tired and with a pounding headache to boot. For once, and this was actually quite ironic, she looked about as tired as she felt.

"You went into Hyper mode," explained Samus calmly. She had almost died and she was still as composed as ever. "Your body produced too much phazon to be burned off by going on a rampage, so it upped the level. And something tells me your insanity really wanted to be let out, too."

Tejed just shook her head and buried her face in her hands. The phazon tendrils had receded and she was back to whatever normal she went by. She started crying into her hands, horrified and scared by what she was capable of. She had come too close that time, too close to loosing both Gin and Samus. And what if she had killed them? That left Dejet and Vince alone with her, as well. And they were only human, they couldn't stave off her attacks even if they wanted to. She was lucky her phazon ran out when it did. Two more seconds and she'd finally know how Gin felt about killing innocents. And that was something she felt she simply couldn't handle.

"Tejed…" A warm hand on her arm. Quickly she rounded on its owner, not out of anger but out of fear, and embraced him in a tight hug. She cried onto Gin's shoulder, afraid that one of these days she would kill him, and everyone else, too. Awkwardly he embraced her back. All he wanted to do at this point in time was comfort her. And Tejed sorely needed the comfort.

"It's alright, Tejed," he said quietly. "You're fine, now."

"My sickness is rising, Gin, I can feel it," she whispered between sobs. "I'm scared."

"I know you are," he replied sadly. "I know you are."

Tejed didn't want to leave him, didn't want to leave the warmth of this hug. It made her feel so much better words couldn't even describe it. But she had a sister to rescue, so reluctantly she withdrew. Her face was streaked with tears but they didn't glow, not in the least. Her phazon levels, earlier at critical mass, had dropped back down to normal levels. For once she was not full of phazon. It was almost weird.

Vince and Dejet came out of their hiding and had joined Gin and Samus after seeing that Tejed was stable once again. Tejed couldn't take it. She couldn't take her sister seeing her like this, like _that_. Slowly Tejed stood and reached in her pack for her helmet. Its comforting darkness would make her feel better, less shamed. Less like a monster. She gave Dejet a sad look before she put on the helmet, and cut herself off from the world.

"Tejed…?" It was Zotch'Ti. She didn't snap at him nor did she attack him. She simply ignored him and started down the hallway, past what remained of the pirate mutation. What little remained of the monstrosity was smeared all over the walls and the floor, a faint phazon glow to the whole scene. Its brain was visible again and Tejed quickly averted her vision, faint nausea growing in the pit of her stomach. There was no chance of it regenerating now, it was in too many pieces.

Now more than ever, she wanted to crawl into a hole and forget this ever happened.

* * *

"Tejed, I can't have a pirate on my ship."

"But-"

"-_Especially _the one that sliced my arm off." He glared purposely at Zotch'Ti. The pirate glared right back in response. Tejed growled in undecided obedience and let go of the pirate's arm. She was in no mood right now to be angry at him, nor anyone. Gin walked up the stairs to his ship and laid a hand on the door before pausing and looking back at Tejed. Despite her helmet she looked like a sad puppy and he couldn't help but sigh.

"Just put him in your ship's brig, tell Jarvis to keep an eye on him," he said quietly. "You won't even know he's there."

He glanced over at Tejed's ship sitting forlornly beside his than back at the hybrid. She took a hesitant step towards it but stopped and looked back. Samus stood impatiently beside Gin and Vince and Dejet were whispering to each other.

"Seriosuly Gin, come on," Samus whispered quietly. The pirate vessel was starting to give her the creeps. Finally he gave in and opened the door, and with one last backwards glance at the hybrid disappeared inside. Quick as a flash Vince had run in behind him, leaving Tejed alone with her sister and a pirate. She took another half step towards her ship before looking back at Dejet. The malnourished woman cocked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Tejed?" she inquired quietly.

"…My ship's a filthy mess…" she replied. Dejet smiled and spread her arms, indicating the frigate she had spent the last year locked onboard.

"I'm used to messes," she said with a wry grin.

"No…" said Tejed sadly. "It's not _that_ kind of mess…" Reluctantly she had turned again and had clambered slowly up her ship's flight of stairs, stopping like Gin had moments earlier.

"I…I can't let you in here," she said suddenly, without turning. "It's too messy, too filthy. I can't let you see what I live like."

Dejet was silent for a moment, her grin having faded. Zotch'Ti stood uncertainly between the two, unsure if he should approach Tejed or stay where he was. He found himself stuck in the middle of things far too often lately and it was beginning to grind on his nerves. Dejet had just opened her mouth in reply when she was cut off by shouts and yells from inside Gin's ships, shouts and yells which were loud enough to get Tejed to finally turn.

"But he's my friend!" It was Hackbot, whining about something. His noisy voice sparked Tejed's hatred again and she sneered. Had he been on board Gin's ship the entire time they were narrowly avoiding death? Her hand, gently resting in the handle, contracted into a fist. The handle cracked loudly and half of it clattered noisily to the ground.

"But Master!"

The door to his ship banged open and Gin roughly chucked a pirate out of his ship. It landed with a heavy thud and a sharp crack but didn't look like it was in pain. Hackbot pushed rudely past Gin and yelled at the pirate.

"I'll miss you, M'nark!" he cried, waving feebly at him. "We'll always have planet Vega S-5!"

Without hesitation Gin elbowed the robot hard in the chest, pushing him back into the confines of his ship. Tejed watched the whole scene without a care and didn't say anything. Zotch'Ti facepalmed.

"You're more than half space pirate, Tejed!" Gin yelled angrily. "So make some space pirate friends, already!" He glared one last time at the dishevelled M'nark before slamming the door shut.

"Wait!" yelled Tejed. Without hesitation it opened again.

"No pirates on my ship!" he replied before she could answer.

"Take Dejet with you." Her request took Gin completely off guard and it took him a moment to process what she had said.

"But…She's your sister…" he said slowly. Already Tejed had opened the door to her ship and was standing there impassively.

"Take her with you…Please," she said quietly. Gin thought for a moment before agreeing. It probably had something to do with Tejed's ship, he surmised. He had only ever been in the main command room, but from what he remembered it was filthy and messy with a distinct metallic smell to the air and reminded him strongly of a pirate frigate. Gently he motioned for Dejet, who only after a brief look at Tejed disappeared inside his ship. The hybrid sighed and climbed into her ship, as well, Zotch'Ti and the new pirate close behind.

"So…Tejed…" said Zotch'Ti hesitantly. The door closed behind him.

"No," she replied softly. "Don't say anything to me." He was silent as she removed her helmet and sighed heavily. Briefly she glanced at M'nark, eyes narrowing.

"You look familiar."

"M'name's M'nark," he replied. "I can't die."

"You weren't…The one on that frigate I _decapitated_, were you…?" she asked suspiciously. He shrugged.

"Maybe. I've lost my head a lot. I don't remember anymore"

Without warning she whipped forwards and deftly crushed his head between her hands. After a few moments of aimless stumbling around, his head grew right back. Zotch'Ti facepalmed, a habit he had since childhood. Or whatever passed as childhood for pirates. Tejed sneered and looked at Zotch'Ti.

"You have something to do with this, don't you?"

"Early experiment," he replied quietly. "They wanted an indestructible pirate. I gave it to them." M'nark was currently picking at a deep gash on his arm and Zotch'Ti shook his head. "Haven't been able to replicate it yet. Plus he's an idiot, so-"

"-Whatever," replied the hybrid curtly, cutting him off. She abruptly turned and headed for the command room, ignoring the pirates. She didn't care at this point in time and she didn't even want to see them until, well, she just plain didn't want to see them. "Go somewhere where I'll never see you and stay the hell out of my way."

She was fine with pirates on her ship. As long as the damn things never showed their faces. At all.

Slowly she settled herself into her command chair and instructed Jarvis to take them back to Earth. It was going to be a long ride. In the meantime, she rooted under her chair for a bottle of alcohol and took a big swig, letting her eyes close. Might as well get comfortable. At least until planet-fall.

* * *

"So…Zotch'Ti betrayed us…" The commander didn't sound angry, nor did he sound displeased. Quite the opposite, actually. He sounded quite curious, as if he had suspected this for quite some time and had just been waiting to see how it would unfold. He pressed his clawed fingers together in front of him and watched the construction far below.

"Yes, Commander," came the hesitant reply. "He's…He's sided with _them_, sir. With the humans. With TransFuse."

"With TransFuse…" Despite the seriousness of the situation he laughed loudly, startling the group of scientists milling about the broken Ridely far, far below. He always knew that scrawny little scientist was hiding something. He was always making excuses as to why TransFuse couldn't go in for phazon enhancement one day, and disappearing without a trace the next. He even suspected the vile thing had learned a forbidden language, just so he could _talk_ with it.

"O-orders, sir?" The commander stopped laughing as abruptly as he had started and finally looked at the grunt before him.

"Just because Zotch'Ti is gone doesn't mean the plan has been changed," he said smoothly. "It still goes as planned, only without a lead scientist. I'm sure Science Team can manage in his stead…"

The grunt reluctantly bowed and quickly scrambled out.

"Ridley and Alpha, sitting in my bay," he sung gently. "Killing Samus the slow and painful way…Getting TransFuse back…Without delay…"

He laughed again.

"Those Federation pests will _pay_…"


	13. Chapter 13

_We're going to war. I don't know how to feel. I don't want to go, I don't want to be in the midst of battle, and I don't want to kill things. But some part of me, some Physeter induced aspect that they woke up, wants to go. It's the exact opposite of what I don't want to do. It wants me to kill and maim and murder and it wants to enjoy it. And by proxy, I'll enjoy it too. There is some good news, though. I got a letter in the mail a few days ago. Yes, actual mail, an actual letter that was actually hand written. How do you like that? It was from Tejed. It was a confession. She really did like me, I wasn't just imagining things. And she didn't like me in the 'I want you for your money' sort of way, she actually liked me for who I am, for what I've done. When I first read it I felt like crying. But we're going to war, and I'll never see her again. I'd happily reply, but they watch everything that comes in or goes out, like damn buzzards. I hope she doesn't think I forgot about her, because I think about her every day. And Tejed, your letter is the only thing that kept me going._

…

…_PS: Damn. I really wish I could reply to you, Tejed. I really wish I could. _

_-Vaughn Masters _

~*~

"It was sighted in a…In a bar, sir…"

"In a bar?"

"In a bar," was the affirmative reply. Jim leaned back in his chair and eyed the soldiers in front of him. Three of them, there were, all undercover spies for the Federation, all still wearing their getups: bikers. The group of aliens chattering behind him was starting to give him a mild headache but he ignored them for the time being.

"And what did it look like?" he inquired, folding his hands across his lap.

"It was tall," said one, holding his hand above his head for reference. "About seven, maybe seven and a half feet."

"Really hideous face, too," piped in another. "Full of ugly fangs and teeth and smouldering yellow eyes. You should have seen the ears on it. They were _huge_."

"And don't forget its filthy stained claws," said the first one again. The third and largest spy stood behind them with his arms crossed across his chest, a blank look on his face, but didn't say anything. He let his two subordinates do the talking for him.

"Okay, okay. That's enough," interrupted Jim, cutting them off from their excited babble. He already had a mental picture of TransFuse in his mind and he didn't like it at all. Picturing that monstrosity running around his Federation controlled planet made his stomach do strange little flips. Sighing he turned to the last spy.

"And what do you have to say, Conrad?" he asked politely. The man unfurled his arms from his chest and gently pushed past the two smaller men, leaned heavily on Jim's desk.

"There was a girl," he said quietly. His deep, bass voice echoed around the room and for a second the aliens behind Jim stopped talking. "It threatened her."

"Threatened her?" he parroted. Conrad nodded once and presented to Jim a portable viewer. Tentatively he picked it up and flicked it on, scrolling through the security camera snapshots. Sure enough, there was TransFuse, looking down at a little girl by its side. He shuddered at the sight of the Pirate experiment but didn't look away. The next shot was of it getting up from the table, and the next was it leaning down, obscured by the table and the chairs. He could only surmise what it had done to that girl, but judging by the apparent viciousness of those taloned mechanical feet it could not be good.

"It threatened her…" he said tiredly, giving the man back the viewer. Conrad allowed himself a wry little smirk for exactly one second before pocketing it. Jim failed to notice.

"What are your orders, sir?" he asked innocently. Jim looked up and sighed.

"If it really did threaten a defenceless little girl, then there's only one thing to do, before it gets out of hand," he replied, rubbing his temples. "Start putting up posters and viewscreens. Get its filthy mutated face up on every building side and every airship that you can. If anyone sees it anywhere, be sure the Federation is the first to know. I want it and I want it _dead_, at all costs."

Conrad nodded once and deftly turned, his two subordinates close behind him. Jim watched as they left and put his face in his hands, shaking his head. How had this gotten so out of control so fast? The Federation never should have started working with the Pirates. All it managed to lead to was confusion and botched experiments. They already had the whole hydra incident around a year ago, and now this? At least the Pirates supplied the Federation with the Physeter for the Elite project, if only for them to give the Pirates the phazon they so desperately needed for their projects. When the hell would it end, anyway? Or would it keep going until one of the sides broke and attacked the other?

"Until the Elites are done," he muttered bitterly, answering his own question. "And we eradicate those filthy creatures once and for all…"

The aliens behind him were chattering again, their flute like voices rubbing his frazzled mind the wrong way, making his headache worse. He never should have drunk himself to sleep last night when he knew there would be a meeting today. Angrily he turned to the aliens.

"Get out," he muttered quietly. They stopped talking and stared at him, unsure where this sudden vehemence had come from, but made no movement. It only made him angrier.

"GET OUT!!" he yelled. Instantly the aliens scrambled from his room, the heavy doors banging shut behind them. He winced at the loud noise then sighed happily. It was quiet in here once again, and now he could finally think.

Absently he shifted through a pile of papers on his desk, looking for anything to take his mind off TransFuse, at least for a little while. He stopped at one in particular and eyed it, slowly reading through the too small words. It was a bio-sheet for one of his newest bounty hunters, Tejed. He shuddered when he remembered the first day he had shown up, that burnished copper suit glinting dully in the half light of his office. He scanned the paper. Except for the name in the upper left hand corner, the sheet was empty. No age, no weight, no species. Nothing. According to this, Tejed was merely a name and a suit. And what was underneath that suit was anyone's guess. Shrugging he put it back down. Tejed was a busy man, always out in some dejected corner of the galaxy doing who knows what. A tiny bit of paper work could wait a few more weeks. Months, even. Jim didn't really care all that much, and apparently neither did Tejed.

"As long as he does his job," muttered Jim, looking out the huge set of windows in the back wall. "Then I really don't care _who_ or _what_ he is…"

~*~

Tears welled in Tejed's eyes as she read the journal entry, soaking in every single word. She had stumbled upon the black, leather bound journal quite by accident when she had been aimlessly wandering around Gin's empty ship earlier, and urged by the insistence of the voice in her head and her own curiosity, she had read it.

"He wasn't lying…" she muttered, a stained and yellowed claw resting gently on the last worn page. Chuckling happily she hugged it close to her chest, the tears finally spilling free.

"Tejed, what are you doing?"

Quickly she stuffed the book back in the drawer she had found it in and stood, almost banging her head on Gin's too low ceiling. Scratch that, she _had_ banged her head on Gin's too low ceiling. And it hurt. A lot. Gin watched her from the doorway, leaning against the doorframe and with an eyebrow cocked. Quickly the hybrid tried to concoct a valid reason as to her being in his room. She failed miserably.

"I was…And there was…And that thing…And…" All she managed to say was a muddled menagerie of mismatched words and broken sentences. She stopped talking and Gin approached her. He stopped beside her, and only after eyeing her once proceeded to pull out the little black book she had so hurriedly stuffed away. Gently he flipped through a few pages, coming to a stop on the last one. There was a small scratch across the page: a mark from Tejed's claws. She had put it away a bit too fast.

"Were you reading this?" he asked quietly, not bothering to look up at her. Gently he traced a finger across the shallow tear. It had cut a little too conveniently across the last instance of Tejed's name, rending it in two separate halves. He finally looked up at her. She had wound one of her fingers into her hair and was currently twisting it around and around; a shy, nervous habit that had followed her from high school.

"Why are you so nervous?" She opened her mouth but didn't say anything, quickly closed it again. She didn't trust herself to speak. Not here, not in front of Gin. Not when she had so many other things she wanted to say to him. Gently Gin put the book on his bedside table and sighed.

"I really don't care, you know," he said. "It's not like that book's a secret or anything. You can read its torn pages all you want."

No reply. Gin sighed and changed his tactics.

"And why are you on my ship, anyway?"

"I…" she trailed off for a moment. "I got sick and tired of being there with Pirates…"

That was half the truth. She had also wanted to see Gin and her sister. She wanted to see Samus. She wanted to be with other people. It always made her feel better when she was on his ship instead of hers, anyhow. Her ship only served to remind her of sadistic tendencies, whereas Gin's curbed them to a small degree. Its nice clean corridors and touch of humanity made her feel better.

"…Why are you crying…?" Gin asked softly, changing the subject again.

"I wasn't crying!" she said quickly, wiping her face. Gin snorted in mild amusement.

"Then what were you doing, leaking phazon?" She glowered at him and opened her mouth for a snappy reply, only to be rudely cut off by the one person she was slowly growing to hate more than Gin.

"Hey, Vaughn! I--" Vince stopped when he caught sight of Tejed, both of their faces pulling into a sneer. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I got sick and tired of the Pirates on my ship," she retorted, her mood dissolving into muddy resentment. "Of the _obnoxious_ Pirates on my ship. I thought I could get away from them here, but I guess I was wrong."

Vince opened his mouth to retaliate but Gin quickly shooed him out, ignoring his protests. The last thing he wanted was his brother and a sadistic hybrid at each others throats. Especially when they had far better things to do. Tejed watched sullenly, ignoring the urge to rip his throat out with her teeth. She imagined pinning him down with one foot on his chest and a hand on the side of his head, holding his exposed neck in place. All in all it was quite an invigorating thought and she found herself grinning sadistically at it.

"Go be obnoxious somewhere else!" Gin yelled down the hall at his brother's retreating back. Tejed's grin faded. Sighing he turned back to the hybrid and gently grabbed her arm. She made no move to pull it away.

"Come on," he said tiredly, rubbing his temples. "I promised Vince and your sister I'd take them on a tour of my ship."

"…Can I come, too?" He stopped outside the door and looked up at her, smiling slightly.

"I'd love for you to come, Tejed," he replied kindly. She smiled shyly down at him and allowed herself to be pulled from the room. She glanced back once at the black journal resting on his table and sighed, for a brief moment actually happy.

"_There's that damn happiness again…" _

"Shut up, I'm not in the mood right now," she snapped quietly. She had just rescued her sister and finally come to the realization that Gin, in fact, did not hate her. It was time to be happy, not angry. The voice had other ideas, of course, but then, it never did agree with anything Tejed ever said.

"_Oh, you're in the mood, Ms. Jenal,"_ it replied in its calm tone. _"You're always in the mood, so long as you have me…" _

"I thought I told you to fuck off."

"_No, you said shut up. There's a difference. One is saying 'shut up', whilst the other says 'fuck off'. Two completely different phrases, my dear hybrid…" _

It snickered to itself and proceeded to hassle her some more, pointing out the obvious differences between the two phrases while she walked down the hall with Gin. She wasn't in the mood for this and promptly tuned it out, much to its annoyance. It yelled at her a few more times before finally giving up and becoming silent. Despite herself she smiled. Mental silence was oh so very nice.

"So how's your neck?" asked Gin suddenly. He still felt horrible that he broken it in the first place.

The question caught the hybrid off guard and she looked at him curiously. She gave her neck a good bend to the side, cracking her healed vertebrae loudly, then to the other side, repeating the process. Her neck was a little sore, but none the worse for the trauma it had undergone. It supported her head, so she wasn't complaining.

"It's fine," she replied curtly. "Where is Dejet, anyhow? And Vince?"

"Somewhere," he replied vaguely, waving off in some random direction. Voices up ahead, from around the bend. And one of them was female. Spirits heightened slightly, Tejed turned the corner into the kitchen. Always the kitchen. Dejet jumped slightly at the sight of her and Vince stopped talking.

"…Sorry…" said the hybrid sheepishly. She hadn't meant to scare her sister like that. She would have sat down beside her sister, but the only other chair in the room was taken by Vince and Tejed had grown to dislike Vince.

"So about that tour," said Gin loudly. He didn't like the sudden darkness that had settled. Vince looked around the kitchen.

"It's all very nice and good, Vaughn," he said mischievously. "Only…" He trailed off and pointed at the far wall.

"What's that?" Tejed looked up at Vince's curious voice, followed his outstretched finger, and instantly facepalmed. Gin saw her action and smiled sheepishly at her.

"_Oh, look. He kept a memento…"_ commented the voice slyly.

"I can see that," she whispered back. It was the frying pan. The heavy cast iron one that was currently severely warped from meeting her skull a couple dozen times. Vince had taken it down from the wall and was playing with it, running his fingers over its misshapen surface. Tejed's lip pulled into a sneer but she didn't say anything. Vince chuckled.

"It looks like it collided with someone's head a couple hundred times," he remarked, weighing it.

"You don't know that half of it," replied Gin as he snatched it back.

"Why did you keep it?" Tejed asked suddenly. She could feel her anger rising but pushed it away. Gleefully the voice tried to grab onto it but she ignored it.

"Memento?" Gin sighed, holding his hands up in defeat. "So I could remember…How I helped you…?"

"You didn't help me, Samus did," she retorted. She turned from the kitchen and made to walk out. It took Vince a few seconds to catch on. Smiling he snatched the pan back and ran up to the hybrid, waving it in her face.

"It collided with _your_ head, didn't it?" he asked suspiciously. She stopped and glared down at him but he didn't get the hint. His smile widened. "I knew you were insane but this tops the cake! You attacked yourself, didn't you? You smacked yourself upside the head until the pan was so twisted and deformed it was beyond repair, didn't you?" Without warning she grabbed it and leaned in close, her eyes sparking.

"You're absolutely right, _Vincent_," she spat angrily. Gin just sighed and watched. If Tejed tried anything he had a mechanical arm more than strong enough to knock her out for a few minutes. Or hours. "But you want to know why, don't you? It was to drive the voice in my head out, to keep it from taking over. To keep _me_ from decimating _him_." She pointed over at Gin.

"I could even demonstrate, if you want. My skull's apparently very thick. I could smash myself upside the head with this thing and all I'd be left with would be a small headache. No bruise. No concussion. Just a headache. Want a demonstration…?" She held the pan close to her head and grinned wickedly at him.

"No, I'm good," he said quickly, holding his hands up defensively.

"Tejed, give me the pan." Gin put a hand on her arm and reluctantly she gave it to him, but only after giving him a good glare.

"I fucking hate your brother," she seethed.

"I can see that," he replied calmly, staring up at her purposefully. "Now calm yourself, please. No need to get angry." She pursed her lips shut and looked away, stared angrily at the far wall as she got her anger under control. There were still gouges in the walls from her little episode with the chainsaw, but they were halfway repaired. For a second it made her ashamed of herself and she looked back at Gin.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. Vince stood dejectedly behind the hybrid, wishing she would just go away already. He wasn't one to lie about his feelings, and currently he wasn't all that fond of her. Her inherent insanity and snarky attitude rubbed him the wrong way.

"Master, scans have picked up an unknown object on a collision course with Earth."

It was his ship's computer. Tejed had been right. It _did_ sound just as expressionless as the rest of his ship, its synthetic voice deep and unfeeling. Suddenly serious, Gin ran from the room, muttering a low string of curses under his breath and with Vince close behind. Vince glanced back once before disappearing.

"What in the fuck?" muttered Tejed, following them. Dejet stayed close beside her, confused. The lighting in his ship had faded to a dull red: warning colours. Something big was going down and she didn't like it. Quickly she arrived in the main command room. A map of the immediate space around Earth was highlighted, a deceivingly small shape making a beeline for it. It had already entered the Earth's upper-most atmosphere and looked like it had been attacked numerous times, judging by the cluster of Federation ships hounding it. Their actions did nothing. It continued its plummet.

"That's not good," commented Dejet quietly. She had wormed her hand into Tejed's for comfort, the sight of the unknown object strangely frightening. She may have been a full five years older than the hybrid but things still scared her all the same, and Tejed's inhuman warmth made her feel better, regardless of green skin or yellowed and stained claws.

"It will collide in T minus 5 minutes and counting, Master," said the computer lowly. A countdown timer appeared at the top of the screen. Great, mused Tejed bitterly. Just great.

"_All we need is some epic music, and we're good to go,"_ said the voice. _"Maybe some drums, an awesome guitar solo. Your voice is pretty hideous, you can scream some lyrics. Oh, and alarms. This needs _lots_ of alarms…" _

Tejed rolled her eyes as the voice started up its own version of the epic music it was talking about, getting the rhythm down. Tejed ignored it.

"_Oh, come one! Quit being a party pooper and back me up…!"_

No response. She watched as the counter ever so slowly counted down, Gin and Vince both desperately trying to find the estimated landing sight. The milliseconds flipping by so quickly almost made her dizzy.

"_Fine! Ignore me! See if I care! You'd make an awesome singer for a death metal band but all you do is ignore my incredibly _generous_ advice! Good day, Ms. Jenal. Good day…" _

It didn't say anything more.

"11654 Nebula Drive!" said Gin suddenly. The counter had reached three minutes and quickly Gin hopped into the command chair, started the ship. Tejed had never seen him so focused before, so intent on his chosen career. She smiled. It bolstered her respect for him, if only a little bit.

"Hold onto your hats, mates!" he said loudly. The ship lurched upwards and Dejet stumbled, her stomach suddenly in her mouth. Tejed helped her find her feet again. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

~*~

The treehouse afforded the perfect view of the main house, and Sarah loved that. It was her favourite place to hang out, and more often than ever she found herself spending entire days in the treehouse and the forest that bordered her family's property. Giggling happily, she watched a tiny bug walk across one of the treehouse window, engrossed by it. She glanced over at the house. Her mother was currently in the main room, looking outside through the huge window. Delighted, Sarah ran over to her tiny little computer and grabbed the communicator.

"Hi, mommy!" she yelled happily. She watched as her mother looked up at her, and smiling reached for her own communicator.

"Hi, Sarah," she replied back. It was an old two way system that had been in the treehouse for years, but it did its job and it did its job admirably. It had yet to break down, to go haywire. It was still as good as it was the day it was installed, just obsolete.

"Where's daddy?" asked Sarah.

"He's in the workshop," she replied, a tinge of worry in her voice. Ever since that incident at the bar with the hybrid, he had taken to holing himself up in the workshop, trying to find any lead on the Space Pirates, any at all. The worry phased right over the young girl and she smiled down at her mother, her only simple joy the fact that she was alive.

"I love you, mommy," she said quietly.

"I love you too, sweety." The worry had faded but was still there. Sarah didn't catch it and went back to watching the bug. It had made its way inside the treehouse and was currently walking slowly across the floor towards her, without a care in the world. Smiling she sat down and watched it.

She was jolted from her little bubble of innocence by a loud bang, followed by shouts and yells. Frightened she scrambled up to the treehouse window and looked down at the house, inadvertently squishing the bug in the process. She did not care. Her mother was no longer at the huge bay window and for a second Sarah was horribly frightened, not for herself, but for her parents. Sounds of a struggle came from within.

"…Mom…" she gasped, tears starting to form in her eyes. Suddenly her mother came into view, blood streaming down the side of her face. Shakily she grabbed the communicator.

"S-Sarah! Run!" she yelled. Behind her two men in Federation uniforms came up, both with laser pistols held firmly in their grips. The resounding electrical bang of the weapons firing came a split second after her mother crumpled lifeless to the ground, a neat round hole in her temple and a matching spray of red on the window. The two Federation soldiers looked up towards the treehouse, catching sight of her before she ducked under the window. They yelled some orders to each other and promptly shot through the window, in too much of a hurry to fiddle with a door. Sarah half heard the sounds of heavy feet on the ground, her dead mother's words still fresh on her mind, and without another thought abruptly stood and ran for the back of the treehouse and the tree it was built around, quickly scaling it down to the ground where she broke into a flat out run.

"She's running!" shouted one of the soldiers.

"Catch her!" yelled another. "She knows too much!"

The original two soldiers were quickly joined by another three, and the small group of five hastily gave chase. The last thing they wanted at this point was to go back to their commanding officer and get a good earful for letting a girl escape. Which was not to say they felt horrible for killing a small girl. They felt more abominable than a certain sadistic hybrid ever could. But they had jobs to do, and if it required ending a ten year old's life, than that's what they would do. No questions asked.

Sarah darted out of the backyard and into the street, her feet pattering hollow notes across the line of old houses. One of the Federation soldiers, their leader, motioned to his men, ordering them to split up and take her from all angles. They obeyed and did as they were told, none of them uttering a single sound. They were all about stealth, and in an area like this, a street lined with old fashioned houses and observant families, they weren't taking any chances. A single girl running down the street would not arise any attention. A single girl chased by five grown men bedecked in GF insignia clothes, that would cause a few eyebrows to raise. And that was the last thing the Galactic Federation wanted.

Silently, like a pack of wolves cornering its prey, the Federation soldiers, under the command of their leader, encircled the girl in hopes to cut her off at the end of the street. He stood off to the side, shrouded in the leaves of a huge alien bush and with his weapon cocked and ready. If worse came to worse, he was ordered to kill her himself, leave the pain of such a crime to himself and himself only. Spare the rest of his soldiers. He signalled across the street to his men, ordered them remain hidden. The tall spires of buildings loomed over them like silent sentinels and the Federation HQ stood solemn in the distance. Something huge and fast zipped across the sky. Sarah ran ever closer, unknowing of the trap laid in wait before her, only intent on running until she could run no more.

She stumbled and almost fell a split second before _it_ landed, throwing up a huge cloud of dust and debris in the process. Shattered pieces of concrete flew past Sarah's prone form and she whimpered, terrified and uncertain of what was happening. Almost instantly the Federation soldiers jumped out of hiding, a new, bigger threat menacing the city, their regulation pistols firing short bursts of white hot laser.

It looked down at them, amused and the slightest bit annoyed by their pitiful attempt at an attack, and quickly whipped out with its studded, spike adorned mechanical tail. It hit the first three in the chest, shattering fragile human rib cages and leaving the men broken the instant they died. The fourth man had the express privilege of his skull being stoved in by a spike and the fifth soldier, he had scurried away before the beast had landed, was watching from a safe distance with a heart that simply refused to stop hammering. He fumbled with his comm. device and almost dropped the thing, his hands slick with sweat. This was something Federation HQ had to know about and that had to know about it _now_.

Ridley surveyed the immediate area, the dead soldiers a pleasing sight out of the corner of his eye. He had orders: he was sent here to get that damnable TransFuse back, wherever the hell it was. He stretched his wings and snorted in frustration. It wasn't here. Hopefully all the chaos he had wrought would draw it, and then he could get this over with once and for all. He was sick and tired of Project TransFuse and still had the scar on the side of his head where it had torn out his camera. Snarling he scratched at it. Fucking TransFuse.

A curiously muffled sort of mewling sound reached the dragon's ears and curious he turned to it. The sound was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't for the life of himself figure out why. His mechanical muddle of pistons and tubing that constituted a heart skipped a beat and his remaining organic eye narrowed in fury. The girl. She hadn't moved since the dragon had landed, her legs seemingly paralyzed with terror. Anger flared on his mind. A tiny little girl, cowering before him and crying, her family and everyone around her dead. It was almost like that moment in time, years upon years ago, on a ravaged human colony with a jumble of letters and numbers for a name. That was the only time he had ever shown compassion. Only the little girl he had spared then had grown into a vicious hunter intent on killing off an entire species. Ridley lowered his massive toothed head to her level and opened his mouth, glaring daggers at her. He couldn't make such a costly mistake again. Sarah looked up, terrified, but didn't utter a sound.

With a rather savage twist of his head and the satisfying clicking of steel reinforced mandibles Ridley clenched his jaws shut, hoping for the visceral feel of decimated little girl against his tongue. Nothing. Confused and angered that this chance was taken from him he straightened back up. No more than a few meters away was Gin, Sarah held protectively in his arms. Ridley uttered a high pitched shriek. These god damned hunters! Always showing up at the least opportune time and spoiling his fun. And this one! Hadn't he been killed a while back? Tail to the chest and all that? It had killed the dead Federation soldiers here, why in the hell was Gin still alive?!

Enraged, the dragon opened his mouth, exposing the modified flamethrowers hidden in the back of his throat, and let loose with a volley of flame. Gin merely leaped out of harms way, landing in front of his ship, conveniently parked a ways away, out of Ridley's reach. He set her down in front of the ship the moment the doorway opened and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be all right," he said kindly, smiling. "Dejet here will take care of you. Stay here."

Sarah glanced up at the open ship door then back at the dragon. He was making his way over to the ship with murder on his nucleoid brain, intent on killing Gin once and for all. No, scratch that. Ridley wasn't going to kill him, he was going to _destroy_ him.

"Hey, you four winged _spit-fuck_!!" Ridley stopped and turned toward the voice, his dignity scuffed. He hated being called names. "Come on over here so I can tear out your other eye, as well. The broken camera on my wall is getting lonely and I need another trophy." He bristled angrily at the remark, recognizing that broken voice.

_TransFuse_. Trans-_fucking_-_**Fuse**_. Fuck the girl and fuck the Australian hunter. The faster he captured TransFuse the faster he could high tail it out of here and never have to even _look_ at Earth let alone land on it ever again.

Tejed stood all by herself on the opposite side of the dragon, acting as the diversion to keep him away from Gin and the girl. And her sister and Vince, who were also on Gin's ship. And they were too weak to interfere, let alone actually fight. Tejed shuddered at the thought and readied her shoulder cannon. Ridley took a heavy step towards her, his tail swishing like an annoyed feline and the pain from her last attack still fresh in his mind. He wasn't taking any chances this time.

"Ooh, hesitating, I see?" mocked the hybrid with a grin. Behind him the girl scampered on board Gin's ship with Dejet and the door banged shut. Samus' gunship came to a gentle rest beside Gin's and the Hunter in question jumped out. This was going to get fun. "Scared, you pitiful bastard? Am I too much for you?"

Ridley leaped at her, jaws clacking together in anger. He was ready to tear her in half, regardless of the consequences from High Command. Anything to stop her scalding remarks. Despite her clunky suit the hybrid was quite fast at dodging things, which only angered the dragon more. He slammed his tail into the ground in hoped the shock wave would trip her up. She just jumped over it, and screaming bloody murder he turned the tail on her.

"You'll have to try harder, you freakish abomination of science! I'm not even breaking a fucking sweat!"

Fucking _TransFuse_! The tail came down at a fast angle but the hybrid merely ducked underneath it, mocking the dragon's inability to harm her. And Tejed? Well, Tejed was just plain having fun aggravating the thing. The angrier he got, the happier she got. Last time they had fought Ridley had won, and she wasn't going to give him that pleasure again.

"_All you're doing is playing an up close and personal game of cat and mouse,"_ the voice stated. It sounded annoyed as hell and was itching for release. _"This is boring. There're much better things we can do, like give in to the phazon and show the monstrosity how to _really_ fight. Let's put on a show…For the girl…" _

She ignored its beguiling tones and leaped over the tail, only to have it double back around and make a beeline for her side. She rolled underneath it and straightened again. In a spurt of rage Ridley opened his mouth and blasted her with a torrent of flame. It just passed harmlessly over her, her suit keeping her safe. Suit glowing faintly from the intense heat, she continued to dodge his tail and his claws. The voice huffed but didn't give up.

"_Okay, fine. Look at it this way. Give in, and defeat the beast, and be sated for a few days. Don't, on the other hand, and I know exactly who's going to feel our wrath. When you get too annoyed, too bothered by the phazon rushing through your heart and have to dispel it, I guarantee _she'll_ be the first to go…" _

The heaviness of the voice's words caught her off guard, even more so when she realized that what it was saying was probably true.

"I can't hurt her…" she muttered, losing her focus. A costly mistake.

The tail clipped the side of Tejed's head, one of its studs catching on her helmet and ripping it forcefully from her head, one of her ears snagging on it before it was thrown clear from the battle scene. She staggered backwards in immense pain, her ears ringing dully from the force of the blow and her vision curiously blurred. Tenderly she took hold of her ripped ear and stumbled forwards, warm blood dripping down her arm. Currently she had balance equivalent to being drunk, and she didn't like it. Uncalled she remembered how Gin had lost his arm. What this how it had felt like? Disoriented and confused and terrified all at the same time?

"It's the Scary Pirate Lady!"

Tejed quickly turned towards the curiously childish voice and stumbled slightly, her remaining ear fluttering slightly as she tried to pinpoint the sound. She spotted the little girl some ways away, under the protection of Gin's ship should Ridley go for her. For a moment the hybrid was utterly confused, so much so that she stopped in mid step and stared at the girl, her mouth halfway open in indecision. She had seen the little girl, but she hadn't realized exactly who it was. Until now.

"…Sarah?" she muttered. In that moment of weakness, of inattentiveness, Ridley swung his tail at her in the hopes he'd get rid of at least one pest. The low bass whoosh of his tail whipping through the air caught her attention, and Tejed looked up at the last second, her pupils contracting in fear.

"Oh, shit," was all she could say before that tail, that cable-esque construction of steel and rivets that no doubt weighed several tonnes, hit her square in the chest in much the same way it had with Gin all those months ago. Instantly the wind was knocked from her lungs and she felt something crack. Her ribs. No time to linger, though. Just as quickly as the tail collided, the force of it threw her up into the air, putting her in a huge arc that probably ended with those buildings over there.

"_This is gonna hurt, you know…"_ commented the voice slyly, already knowing what was coming next. It anything the feeling of her stomach descending into a black pit of nausea was worse than actually colliding, if only because it let the inevitability of it all sink in for a few seconds. The collision and subsequent cloud of dust was painful, but meant it was over. When she had been falling she had been frightened, now she was just in pain. And she could deal with pain.

Dejectedly she found her feet and clambered out of the hole she had created, clutching her side and limping with each step. The dust around her was acrid and thick and without thinking she inhaled a good lungful of it, instantly starting into a coughing fit. It scratched at her sinuses and brought tears to her eyes.

"_Ah, yeah. That's some mighty fine dust, eh?"_ mocked the voice. It was having a good time watching Tejed suffer.

"Shut up," wheezed the hybrid, a particularly large clod of dust lodging itself in her left nostril. She climbed out of the debris, and the annoying dust, and looked around, regaining her spent breath. Ridley was quite a ways away. His tail swished angrily from side to side and even though he was bloody huge and a force to be reckoned with, the combined forces of Gin and Samus, along with a small throng of Federation soldiers, seemed to be holding him off. She smiled. That meant Sarah was safe.

Something rustled above her and she looked up. Without warning a brick dislodged itself and smashed her square in the face, leaving a nice brick shaped imprint where it hit. Angrily Tejed looked back towards Ridley, her face now in immense pain and her nose stuck at some awkward angle, probably broken. Blood started to seep from her right nostril. Another brick fell, this time bouncing off the top of her head. She stiffened and winced. The clod of dust somehow freed itself and floated away, almost as if it were mocking her.

"Fucking bricks," she muttered angrily. Another brick hit her on the head and suddenly she angrily she lashed out at the wall, displacing a small shower of bricks in the process, all of them either bouncing off her head or her armour. Quickly, ignoring the stabs of pain from her broken ribs, she climbed out of the decimated building and away from the rain of bricks. No sooner had she exited it then the entire building caved in, throwing up a cloud of the same dust that loved to choke her. She glared angrily at it then back at Ridley, muttering vile curses underneath her breath. The voice did what it always did when something like this happened. It laughed at her.

"Fucking imaginary voices."

"_Hey, there's only one of me," _retorted the voice deviously._ "Opposite of plural and all that..." _

"Yeah, well you're one too many," snapped the hybrid. "So just fuck off and leave me alone." She made herself comfortable on a jagged piece of concrete and watched the combination Federation and Hunter attack on Ridley.

"_Or what? You'll call the mind police on me...?" _

"No. You'll get to see what the frying pan feels like again."

"_Ooh, I'm frightened. Big scary hybrid with her big scary words being all big and scary. Fine. I'll leave you alone. For now…" _

Abruptly it became silent, much to Tejed's relief. Now if her side didn't hurt so much and she could aid in the attack, then she wouldn't feel so god damned useless sitting here on a scrap of concrete with a broken nose and equally broken ribs. And a tattered and torn ear. She sighed and put her head in her hands. Ridley was being driven away from Gin's ship, and that made her happy. She wasn't there to help. That made her surly again.

"He's alright," she muttered bitterly, watching him fight. She sighed again. "Who the fuck am I kidding? He's amazing."

Her expression became far away and she sighed for a second time.

"…Amazing…"

At least that single Federation soldier who had somehow survived Ridley's initial attack had managed to get a squadron up here, to help with the battle against Ridley. The pirates had reinforced his smoke stacks, so those weren't exactly a prime target anymore. That and he had been upgraded. A lot. Laser fire merely glanced off his hide and Samus' missiles exploded against his skin with no discernable effect save a whisp of smoke and a black patch. Ridley chuckled to himself. With TransFuse out of the way he could finally get to work destroying that damnable Gin. The Samus that had decided to show up was a nice little bonus he hadn't counted on. After Gin was over and done with he had some special things to show Samus. Like the massive hate he had for her and his love for his claws. Oh yes, he thought bitterly. Revenge will be just.

Spurred on by thoughts of the little girl he had saved, Gin charged forwards, his katana glowing brightly. Samus kept up her barrage of cannon fire to divert Ridley's attention to her whilst the Federation soldiers just did their own, separate thing. Gin would have none of it. Ridley had threatened not only a defenceless girl but an entire city, a planet, and Gin would not stand for it. With a sudden flash of bright white light his sword lit up, the electricity surrounding the blade changing to a bright red hue. Some of the electricity jumped off his sword erratically, stabbing his arms and face. He ignored the pain, his mind dead set on Ridley. The dragon would not walk away from this unharmed.

Ridley laughed to himself and allowed the puny little hunter his attack, let him feel like he was actually accomplishing something with this foolhardy run. The last time this had happened Ridley had merely slapped him away with his tail, and though Gin had surprisingly not died, Ridley could always do it again. Keep the tiny, insignificant hunter at bay and keep his eyes trained on the real threat. The Hunter, clad in orange.

He decidedly ignored Gin and turned towards the Hunter, opened his mouth in preparation for a new torrent of intense heat. Seeing her writhe in pain would keep him amused and happy for months on end. He had just initiated the duel flamethrowers, their small lighting mechanisms clicking back, when a sharp, sudden pain erupted in his left front leg, and screaming in rage he looked down. It was Gin, his white hot sword having severed a bundle of tendons and nerves in one wicked slash, cut through them as though they were had never even been there to begin with.

Quickly Ridley leaped backwards, holding his now defunct leg in front of him like a wounded puppy. He snarled angrily at Gin and quickly blasted him with a red hot blaze. Just like a Gin to nimbly leap out of the way, avoiding the stream of intense heat by a mere foot. The air around it distorted from the heat, singing his side and heating his suit until it glowed a muddy red. Gin ignored it. His sword sputtered in response, unleashing a new volley of red electricity. It bit savagely at him like a feral beast yearning for release, and Gin happily obliged.

For the first time in his unusually long life, Ridley was actually frightened. This tiny little hunter, this…This _human_, was actually hurting him, and like a force of nature Ridley could do nothing to stop him. It was almost disgusting, a violation against nature. Ridley was the high space pirate commander, the leader of their army and their best weapon. Why else would they revive him a million god damned times? So he could die again and again at the hands of the Hunter? Or so he could bring the great Zebesian race to the admiration they so deserved? Why was he being holed into a corner by this puny little human?! He wasn't even the Hunter, for god's sake! Ridley could understand being bested by her, but this was too much! The indignation of it!

He roared angrily and resorted to his tail again, hoping all to hell it would at least slow Gin's relentless attack. In response Gin held up his sword and brought it down as the tail plotted a collision course with his head. If Ridley could smile, he would have. This just might work. The tail hit the white hot blade with the tiniest bit of resistance. Quickly Gin ducked, its kinetic force bringing it over his head. With a sound a lot like tearing fabric Ridley's tail suddenly fell in half and continued on its trajectory, crashing into the Federation forces that had assembled behind Gin's ship. Ridley screeched in confusion, his bloody stump of a tail still sparking with red electricity. Jumping on his momentary confusion Gin ran forwards again and proceeded to slice out the dragon's remaining legs right from underneath him, actually managing to slice one of his back feet right off before Ridley came back to the present and spread his wings before his legs gave out for good.

Gin paused as Ridley took off. His severed foot fell lifelessly to the ground and a small rain of blood assuaged him before Ridley had disappeared from sight. He turned back to his ship just in time to catch Samus taking off after Ridley, her gunship a bright orange streak. His righteous anger wore off and slowly his katana faded back to normal, the electricity becoming placid and reverting back to blue. He gave it a once over, confused and at the same time intrigued. Despite himself he smiled and tapped the charged blade.

"Heh, cool," he muttered.

The Federation forces disbanded almost as quickly as they had arrived, each small group leaving, reporting to its own superiors. There was paperwork to fill out, reports to send. And Federation soldiers to send out. Twice already they had been attacked, and that was twice too many. No more surprise attacks.

Smiling Gin sheathed his sword and approached his ship as the main door opened. The once quiet street was a disaster zone littered with debris and the dead bodies of a few GF soldiers. He ignored them, used to seeing death.

"Vaughn that was amazing!" exclaimed Vince, running out to greet him. Dejet clambered out slowly, her legs still weak from her time onboard the pirate vessel.

"That was indeed something," she conceded, smiling. Vince instantly glomped his brother, gripped him in a tight hug. Gin chuckled and returned the hug.

"What the hell did you do?!" Vince asked excitedly. "You know, with your fancy glowing sword?" Gin shrugged, just as perplexed as Vince was.

"I…Really couldn't tell you." The three of them continued to chatter, the Federation soldiers now gone for the time being, at least until they got a clean up crew here. Sighing over by her outpost on the concrete chunk, Tejed finally decided to stand again, her side still aching dully. No longer was she lying to herself. Gin was a damn fancy fighter with a damn fancy sword and a, well, just a damned brother. Nothing fancy about Vince. Muttering to herself, the hybrid approached the small group of hunters, a trembling claw held to her side. Stabs of pain lanced up her broken ribs and she winced. Was this how Gin felt, months ago? If it was, then she was sorry for insulting him. Broken ribs were not fun.

"Is it dead?" she called out. Gin looked up from the small group and waved over at her.

"No, it just ran away!" he replied. Tejed slowed to a stop and joined the group. There was only Gin, Vince, and Dejet. Samus' ship seemed to have disappeared shortly after Ridley. Maybe she was chasing him, giving him a good run for his money before he disappeared for good. Scowling the hybrid removed her hand and peered at her side. The steel of her armour had been bashed right in and was currently stabbing painfully into her shattered ribs. She winced but didn't say anything. Dejet and Gin both looked concerned. Vince just looked bored and annoyed.

"Are you alright?" asked Dejet quietly, sidling up to her sister.

"I'm fine," replied the hybrid through clenched teeth. Another stab of pain had travelled up her side like a hot knife digging into her flesh. Gin didn't look impressed. But then, he never did.

"Are you sure?" he pressed. "Your suit doesn't look like it's in the best of shape."

"I'm _fine_."

"There's a rectangular mark on your face and your nose looks like it's broken. That and your ear looks about ready to fall off. What happened?"

"Brick. To the face," she replied bluntly, tenderly touching her broken nose. "After the tail to both my head and my ribs. In all actuality it was quite painful."

"I…I bet…" replied Gin, nodding slowly. As he watched the hybrid tenderly grabbed her nose and gave it a savage twist to the side, the resulting crack of bone and cartilage ringing throughout the area. Gin just rolled his eyes. Behind him Dejet cringed at the sound and turned away. She was never one for these kind of things, they always made her flinch.

"My god, Tejed," muttered Vince, appalled by her psychotic tendencies and her blatant disregard for pain. "You keep that up and you'll land yourself in a bloody insane asylum."

"Pfft, asylum," scoffed the hybrid, glaring at him.

"_You carry on complex conversations with an imaginary voice you hear in your head,"_ commented the voice. It sounded vaguely worried. _"One of these days Murphy's going to kick you. And its not gonna be pretty…"_

"Oh pshaw," scoffed Tejed again. "Not you too. I'm fiiiiine."

Vince rolled his eyes and turned away. Already her disturbing mannerisms were rubbing him the wrong way.

"Whatever," he muttered bitterly. "Bloody insane green monstrosity."

"Oh, fog off, Vince." Her slip of words caught Vince off guard and he turned back to her, puzzled.

"Fog…Off…?" parroted Gin, confused by her choice of words. The hybrid stopped for a moment, contemplating what she had just said. Tentatively she opened her mouth to say it again, this time properly.

"Fog, fog," she muttered, trying to _not_ say fog. "F-f-f-f--…" She trailed off. "F-f-FUCK!" Despite herself she looked positively delighted and turned back to Vince.

"_Fuck off_, Vince!" she yelled angrily, her spit hitting him in the face. He didn't respond to her curse.

"Are you alright, Tejed?" asked Gin quietly.

"I think I have a minor concussion," she said dolefully, remembering the massive amount of bricks that had collided with her head. She looked unseeingly at Gin. "Why is there two of you?"

Gin just facepalmed. Minor concussion? After getting tail whacked to the head and the chest and colliding with a building full of rather heavy bricks? She was lucky she wasn't human anymore. She would have been dead a long time ago. Vince rolled his eyes and turned away from the group. He could already smell the acrid smell of metallic decay wafting from Tejed's dusty suit and he didn't like it.

"I'll be on the ship," he said quietly, opening the door. Almost instantly Sarah pushed past him, her eyes lighting up when she caught sight of Tejed.

"Scary Pirate Lady!" she cried happily, running up to Tejed. In response the hybrid kneeled down, grinning widely, ignoring the stabbing pain. She forgot Vince's bitter attitude and was happy. The man in question watched for another second from the door before disappearing inside.

"Sarah!" she replied. The little girl ran into Tejed's outstretched arms and hugged her tightly, glad that she was not hurt. Tejed felt exactly the same way and gently embraced her back. "You're not hurt?" she asked quietly. Sarah pulled away and beamed up at her.

"Mr. Phoenix Man saved me!" she replied happily, pointing over at Gin. Tejed chuckled and ruffled the girl's hair, noting its messy feel. She must have been through something traumatic to land herself here, but the hybrid did not bring it up. Not now.

"Ah, Gin," she said quietly. "You did good."

"What's this?" came Gin's amused voice. "Did the scary hybrid just _compliment_ me?"

"Yes, Gin. I just complemented you," she replied. For once she wasn't angry. She suspected Sarah had something to do with it and after a moment longer pulled back from the hug and stood, turned around towards the hunter behind her. He looked amused but feigned terror. Dejet was smiling but didn't say anything.

"Who are you and what have you done with Tejed?" he mocked, smiling. In response the hybrid picked up Sarah and propped her on her shoulder. The girl looked absolutely delighted.

"I just met an old friend, I'm happy," she replied softly.

"Scary Pirate Lady's ears are so biiig!" said Sarah loudly, tugging on the hybrid's torn ear. Tejed flinched slightly, not at the words but at the pain. Her ear hung at an awkward angle like a tattered leaf but had stopped bleeding long ago. Sarah didn't seem to notice the pain she had inflicted and continued to tug on the ear, its size apparently a riot for her. Gin covered his mouth with his hand and chuckled slightly, amused by the scene.

"I never thought I'd see the day," he remarked. "When Tejed gets along with someone…That is, someone who isn't her sister." He smiled apologetically at Dejet. She just shook her head and waved him on, simply happy that Tejed was happy. Gin watched as the girl continued to play with Tejed's ears before turning her attention to the hybrid's antennae. Now if only Gin could find out where he knew her, and where she knew him. A little girl that referred to him excitedly as 'Mr. Phoenix Man' when he had never even met her was not something to be taken lightly.

"What's her name?" he asked suddenly. Tejed had said it but he hadn't been paying attention at the time. Something about the girl was familiar but he could not pinpoint what. The hybrid smiled as her antennae was given a rather hard yank and turned to Gin.

"Her name is Sarah," she said gently. "I met her in the bar. Her entire family except for her parents was killed by space pirates."

"On Jupiter?" Gin breathed, finally seeing the girl for who she really was. Sarah had shied away at the mention of her parents, had buried her face in Tejed's whispy white hair. She didn't cry, nor did she sob. She simply turned away. Despite himself Gin smiled, overjoyed that she hadn't been killed along with the rest of her family. Finally, he could be at peace, if only a small bit.

"Oh my god, Sarah! You're alive!"

He scooped the girl off of the hybrid's shoulder and hugged her tight, overjoyed. She laughed playfully and hugged him right back, her sorrow having disappeared as quickly as it had come. Now Gin knew why there had been dead Federation soldiers littering the area. Maybe they had already killed her parents. Maybe not. They must have tired to kill her, to keep their secret about the Jupiter Incident secret. For all the public knew, Jupiter had been devastated by a pirate weapon, and the Federation had been there to stop it. The truth was far, far worse.

"I told you I'd keep you safe," said Gin quietly. For the first time in his life he felt happy, he felt like he had actually accomplished something. Years ago he had promised a little girl he would keep her safe and now, years later, here she was again.

The onrush of sudden wind announced the arrival of Samus' gunship. Tejed had been right. The Hunter had chased Ridley far off, had made sure he was nowhere _near_ Earth, let alone the Sol system. Last she had seen he had disappeared into the black void, no more than a glint of light in a tapestry of stars. Good riddance, she thought sullenly, jumping from her ship. That damn dragon already ruined too much.

"Mr. Phoenix," she said curtly, nodding at Gin. Her helmet distorted her voice somewhat. She turned to Tejed and her sister. "Ms. Jenal, both of you. And…" She stopped when she saw Sarah, cast a puzzled eye towards Gin. He just shrugged, not knowing what he should say.

Samus gently took hold of Gin's hand and, after a brief nod at the hybrid and her sister, gently guided him into Gin's ship, Sarah tagging closely behind. Tejed felt a stab of pain in her heart and unconsciously put a hand to her chest, her expression grim. Suddenly she felt very lonely, indeed. So much so that she contemplated breaking down into a crying mass right then and there. Instead she mustered what little resolve she had left and lowered her head as the door to his ship banged shut. She allowed herself a single tear.

Dejet noticed her action, instantly understood what was wrong. In a matter decidedly similar to Vince, she grinned.

"You still like him, don't you?" she inquired playfully. Tejed instantly went on the defensive.

"No I hate him," she said quickly. "He's got Samus. Everyone's all happy happy."

"…Everyone except for you." Tejed was silent. She wasn't happy, she never was. The pirates had seen to that. So why did she feel happy whenever Gin was around? Sarah she could understand. She was just a little girl, innocent and free. She always made Tejed happy. But the Aussie? And his sorry excuse for a brother? Where in the hell did that happiness come from?

"Are…Are _you_ happy, Dejet?" asked Tejed tentatively, changing the subject. In response Dejet wrapped her arms around the hybrid's waist and hugged her.

"I am," she replied warmly. It didn't dispel Tejed's sudden bitter mood.

"Even if you have…Me…?" Filthy mutated me, she thought sullenly.

"_Especially_ because I have you." At that Tejed smiled. A little spark of happiness had rekindled itself and she was somewhat cheerful again, less sombre. So what if Gin had decided he like Samus, anyhow? They had just defeated a giant biomechanical monstrosity for the second time, and even though Tejed was hurt, this was a time to celebrate! Hell, they had even saved a small girl from a no doubt grisly fate. What were they doing standing around being all mopey?

"Dejet, I think it's time we celebrated," said Tejed quietly, looking out over the devastation.

"What kind of celebration?"

"We're going to the bar. But first…" she trailed off. A stab of pain. "…First I have to go to my ship…Get out of my suit…" She sounded sad again.

"…And you don't want me to come?"

"It…It smells like death and decay," said Tejed quietly, ashamed. "I am insane, you know. I don't want you to see that."

"Oh, pshaw!" scoffed Dejet, grabbing her sister's hand. "Whatever your ship is like, I can handle it. You're still the same Tejed, despite what you think."

"…You sure…?"

"I'm positive."

Without another word the woman took off across the now devastated street, her feet pattering forlornly across the ruined pavement. Slowly Tejed started to walk towards her, and her ship. Dejet ran back with a helmet glinting in her hands and held it out to Tejed. Tenderly the hybrid grasped it, looked it over. For a brief moment she caught her reflection on the tinted black visor but it didn't say anything, much to her relief. Smiling she slipped it on, careful not to catch her tattered ear.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she said quietly, starting her slow, pained pace again. "You have a ship to see."

~*~

"But we can't just leave her behind!"

"Then take her to an orphanage. She'll be fine there."

"But Samus, she was there during the Jupiter Incident," he pleaded. Sarah was currently playing with Hackbot. The robot looked absolutely delighted. "She was the girl I told you about, the one I reassured. I thought she was killed, but she wasn't!"

Samus sighed and rubbed her temples, her helmet glinting from the floor. This is what she got for getting to know someone. She had to put up with _this_ now. Whatever happened to the good old days where she could just disappear on her ship for months, possibly years on end and not care about anyone? Curse these human emotions. Curse them all to hell.

"Gin, you can't let your personal experiences get in the way," she said tiredly. "She'll be better off in an orphanage than with two bounty hunters and an insane robot."

"The Federation tried to kill her," he said seriously. Samus paused. She hadn't known this. "They killed her parents and almost killed her in an attempt to keep the Jupiter Incident a secret. No one knows that we caused it; everyone thinks it was the space pirates. She survived. She knows. She's a threat."

Samus looked towards the girl. She looked none the worse for all the trouble she had just gone through, though on closer inspection Samus could see it. In her eyes. This girl was just like her, just like Tejed, only it was the Federation that had rudely snatched everything away instead of the pirates. Despite Sarah's happy attitude and her apparent innocence she had been scarred for life. She would never be the same.

"…Fine," the Hunter conceded. Gin repressed the urge to yell in joy and instead embraced her in a sudden hug. She stiffened in surprise, unused to such a display of affection before hesitantly returning the kind gesture. It was awkward, but she enjoyed it.

"Remind me again, why I decided to go out with you?" she asked quietly, seriously wondering what had sparked this whole relationship thing in the first place. The fact that she liked him wasn't the problem. Why she had decided to change her entire life around for the sake of one person was. And now this? A little orphaned girl with no family? It was almost too much.

"I…I don't know," Gin replied, blushing. He pulled away from the hug and watched Sarah. Hackbot looked less insane than usual, too. He was actually being gentle with her, trying his best not to accidentally hurt her. He never acted like this unless his little alarm was blaring, and currently, it wasn't.

"So what does this mean?" asked Samus suddenly, catching Gin off guard.

"It means…" he trailed off, began to nervously fiddle with his mechanical arm. Samus cocked an eyebrow as he tried to formulate his words, intermittently unscrewing a bolt in his wrist then screwing it in again. He stopped and looked up at her sheepishly.

"It means we're…Impromptu parents…?" Samus smirked playfully and looked back at Sarah.

"Remind me, _again_, what I see in you?" The man shrugged.

"I…I really don't know," he replied, just as perplexed with how this relationship was turning out as the Hunter herself. Gently, almost awkwardly, Samus hugged him again, causing him to stiffen in surprise. She liked the human contact. It made her feel safe, secure; happy. It made her think of Adam. But this was not Adam. Would Adam be proud? Would he be happy that she had finally gotten over his death and found someone else, someone who knew? She sure as hell hoped so. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

Did it feel right? Yes. Was she still highly confused? Yes, as well. Why did emotions have to be so perplexing?

Sarah looked up from Hackbot, noticed the two hunters gently embracing each other, and with a childish squeal of delight launched herself at their ankles, adding herself to the hug.

"Mr. Phoenix Man!" she cried happily, looking up. "And Mrs. Nice Woman!"

Samus chuckled and leaned down, ruffled the girl's messy hair.

"I guess, Mr. Phoenix, that we are indeed impromptu parents." Sarah beamed up at her.

"Are you my new mommy?" Samus blushed slightly, the question so abrupt. What was it with Samus that she kept finding these misfits that reminded her so strongly of herself? First it had been Tejed and now it was this little girl. And in both of them, she saw bits and pieces of herself that she had long ago forgotten. She smiled warmly.

"Yes, Sarah. I guess I am."

Outside the ship, amidst the rubble strewn debris and spent ammo shells, amidst the few dead bodies, casualties from the attack, crouched the soldier, the one who had survived the initial landing. He was shaking head to toe like he had contracted some sort of hideous disease, fumbling madly with his comm. device before it clattered noisily to the ground. Swearing to himself he picked it back up and immediately contacted Federation HQ. He had to talk to someone, anyone. The dragon that had attacked? That was one thing. The strange man with his fancy moves who had single-handedly driven it off? That was something completely different.

It was something the Federation had to know.

~*~

"Why does it keep coming _here?!"_

An exasperated tone, heavy with that distinct southern accent, its owner staring out the huge glass windows of his office at the scene of devastation far, far below. Of course, Jim already knew why Ridley kept coming here. TransFuse. The pirates wanted it back just as much as the Federation wanted it gone. Or dead. It didn't really take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

"…There's something else, sir."

Curious, Jim finally turned away from the window. The devastation was making him feel sick to the stomach, anyhow. To think of the vast number of credits it would take to repair the damages. He shuddered at the thought.

"What kind of something?" He leaned heavily on the back of his chair but remained standing, looked inquisitively at the dishevelled soldier in front of him. The room was unusually empty, quiet. Ever since his little outburst at those damn aliens earlier that day, they had deigned to come back in. It was nice. For once the room was exactly as silent as it should have been for the past couple of years.

"It was…It was a man," the soldier replied. Jim cocked an eyebrow and finally sidled into his seat. It was cold. He had been standing in front of the windows for hours.

"What's your name, soldier?" Jim uncorked a bottle of wine on his desk and filled two glasses, pushed one of them towards the soldier. He indicated a chair on the other side of the desk and got comfortable in his. Trembling slightly, the soldier hesitantly sat down.

"M-M-Markus," he stuttered, gently grasping the glass. He held it to his lips but didn't take a sip.

"Markus, hmm?" parroted Jim. He eyed the scrawny, young soldier. "Were you on Richard's team, by chance?" Markus looked up suddenly, surprised by the sudden question. Slowly he nodded yes and finally took a small, hesitant sip of the wine. Jim smiled and did the same.

"And how did that go? Are they dead?"

"…Yes…" he replied quietly. "...But that's not what I have to say. There was--"

"--_All_ of them…?" At that Markus looked back down, remembering the small girl who had escaped before the dragon had come.

"…There was a girl…" he said softly. "She ran."

"And?"

"…The dragon came, killed everyone. We lost her." Jim nodded in understanding and took another sip of his wine. It was good wine, the kind you drank slowly and savoured. He had been so delighted when he had found it, buried underneath the hard liquor he had grown to love. Too bad the stuff had killed his taste buds. But they were slowly regenerating, and each sip brought him closer to actual taste.

Distractedly he ruffled through the never-ending pile of papers strewn haphazardly across his desk, ignoring the young soldier for the moment. Markus kept silent. Good, thought Jim. He knows how to keep his mouth shut. Maybe we can use him for something else. Maybe not. Jim came to a rest on another bounty hunter, his eyes instantly going to the name. Gin Phoenix. He frowned. Another hunter with nothing on the form actually filled out, save for gender and sign up date. Too many of 'em. And he had thought Tejed was one too many. Sighing he looked back up at Markus and let the paper slip from his grasp. It was instantly swallowed by the desk mess.

"A man, you say?" he said quietly, changing the subject. Markus had already botched the mission irrevocably and let a potential threat escape. So much for keeping the Jupiter Incident a filthy little Federation secret. So much for keeping Markus around. "Where? During the fight?" Markus had instantly brightened and nodded eagerly. There was a brief intrusion of ruckus from outside as the main doors to his office opened then closed again. Two guards had come in and were standing resolutely by the door, each of them wielding a laser rifle. Jim motioned them to stay in place and they obeyed. Markus had not noticed.

"Yes, during the fight!" he said enthusiastically. "He had a glowing sword and a suit I've never seen before. He was the one, along with the Hunter, who single-handedly drove the beast away." He made a downward motion with his arms, indicating how the man had decimated the exposed tendons in Ridley's feet. Jim leaned forwards, intrigued. Who was this man?

"What did he look like? Any defining characteristics?"

"He had short black hair and piercing blue eyes," the soldier said quickly. He sounded dreamy, almost reverent. "But it was his fighting style. He was quick and fast like a snake, striking without warning then pulling back just as fast. It was almost as if he was one step ahead of the dragon, at all times. And when he went down, he just got right back up, like a phoenix…" He trailed off and looked meaningfully at Jim, as if asking the man for answers.

"Like a phoenix…" Jim echoed, shaking his head slightly. Something about that troubled him greatly, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. He rubbed his temples exasperatedly. He was starting to get a headache, again.

"Anything else?" he asked Markus. "His suit? Any markings? Anything?" Markus thought for a moment, went back to the fight in his mind.

"…Logos, on his shoulder guards," he said finally. "Stylized fox heads." He shrugged. That was all he knew. Sighing Jim motioned to the guards and smiled apologetically at Markus. Confused, the soldier turned around. A heavy hand on his shoulder kept him in the seat. He looked back at Jim, mouthed the word 'what'.

"I'm sorry," said Jim. Already he had diverted his attention back to the desk and the damnable papers. "But you've seen a tiny bit too much. And you didn't kill the girl." Absently he motioned to the guards. He didn't look up at the flash of light and the sizzle of flesh, nor the distinct sound of a body falling heavily to the ground and subsequent leathery scraping of something being dragged across the floor. He only looked up when the doors closed again, noticing the splatter of blood across his desk from the shot. He scowled.

"Damn guards," he muttered. "They can never keep it clean."

Sighing he turned back to the papers and sifted through them. Anything, he thought bitterly. Anything to get me a lead on that strange man, even TransFuse. Hell, even the Hunter. He reached for the glass of wine but wasn't really paying attention. His fingers brushed the polished glass before knocking it right over, the dark red liquid staining his papers.

"Gah, fuck!" he yelled, frantically pushing the papers away from the wine and onto the ground. A few were already stained by the time he got to them, the wine seeping into the creamy paper like red ink. He stopped, took a deep breath, and turned to the stained papers. One in particular caught his attention, the stain shaped curiously. He picked it up and chuckled as he read the name.

"Gin again, eh?" He traced a finger over the stain. The shape it created was almost familiar, but he didn't know why. A sort of half circle, open at the bottom. A phoenix, he mused, reading the man's last name.

He suddenly dropped the paper, his eyes wide in shock.

"Phoenix," he muttered, staring at the stain. His face contorted in fury and he looked back to the windows. The paper lay dejectedly on the floor, its stained edges fluttering slightly in some unknown breeze and the stain curiously shaped like a lop-sided omega symbol.

"Omega phoenix isn't dead!!" he yelled angrily.

He grabbed the bottle of wine and hurled it at the windows. They shattered from the force of the impact, raining shards of glittering glass all over his carpet. Caught in a sudden wind from outside, the papers thrown across his floor whipped into the air and fluttered across the room, disappeared into the outside. Angrily he stomped down on the floor, trapping one of the papers underneath his foot. It fluttered uselessly in an attempt to escape, Tejed's name glaring balefully up at him. Jim didn't notice nor did he care. Three words were running circles around his head.

"VAUGHN _FUCKING_ _**MASTERS**_!!"


	14. Chapter 14

_Federation log: y 2076: 24/07 _

_I didn't expect such a turnout. Over one hundred bounty hunters showed up, all of them vying for something more, for a chance to make themselves seen, to prove themselves worthy. And I'll be damned if I have to go through and pick six of the bastards. Fuck me, this isn't going to be easy. It's my fault for agreeing when High Commander Johnson picked me. It pays good, that was the only thing in my head at the time. For god's sake, all I do is hire bounty hunters and keep the place running semi-smoothly. What did the High Commander see in me, anyway? The guy doesn't even like me and frankly, I don't like him, either. But hey, a chance to be something more than just a pencil pusher, eh? _

_I heard about this new Elite program a while back from some friends higher up than me, and despite the fact that this is going to be bloody hard, I'm intrigued to see what'll come of it. A force of super soldiers protecting Earth and Federation colonies, the very thought is almost intoxicating. _

_I already have my eye on a few in particular, but I'll have to wait it out and see what happens. Those two brothers from that rich family and a few others. Only a year of this shit, and the project can officially begin. _

_Jim Shaw, Head of Bounty Hunter Relations and Official Organizer of the Elite Project_

_PS: It felt really good writing that title. _

~*~

"Do you still like sweets?"

"Wha…?" Tejed wasn't paying attention. She was too concerned with the blood spatters on the wall over there, the huge dents in the floor and ceiling, the severed heads hanging on her walls, stuck there with their own dried blood. Dejet didn't seem to notice nor care, that or she was busy studiously ignoring it all. The scent of decay was almost overpowering here, but this is where Dejet had led them. It was her fault. As long as they didn't go any deeper and inadvertently find that obnoxious pair of pirates hiding out in her ship, she was fine. As long as Tejed didn't see them she wasn't angry. She half hoped they were dead, even the one who couldn't die.

"Sweets," she replied, stopping for a moment to inspect a scuffed bulkhead. There were three parallel gouges across it: marks from the hybrid's claws. Absently Dejet traced her finger over them, the width of the gouges larger then her whole hand. "You used to have a huge sweet tooth."

"Did I?"

Tejed honestly didn't remember. Her life when she had been human was getting awfully hazy, large chunks of it vanishing into some sort of mental mist, devoured bit by bit, piece by piece by the slowly growing black hole of her insanity. She shuddered. Morbid thoughts, always morbid thoughts. She tried to think of happy things. Dejet had started walking again, eyed a broken pipe as she passed it. There was dried gore hanging from its jagged end. Tejed groaned in humiliation. Happy thoughts were impossible here.

"Yup. I think straight up candy was your favourite."

"_We like the sickly sweet flavour of death, does that count…?" _

"No, it doesn't count," snapped Tejed irritably. And then there was the voice. Sometimes Tejed seriously thought that the inside of her head, if she could see it, would bear a striking resemblance to the inside of her ship. For once the voice agreed with that comparison. Dejet stopped, peered down the darkened hallway, then looked back at Tejed. The hybrid looked downright mortified that she had allowed Dejet on her ship, afraid she was going to get a good scolding for keeping it in such bad condition.

"Are you talking to the voice again?" she asked quietly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. Ashamed, Tejed slowly nodded. She looked so awkwardly skinny without her suit that it was almost funny, in a strange sort of malevolent way. Her side was hastily bandaged up from the earlier fall, though her blood was already starting to eat through it. She didn't seem to be in much pain, though, and for that Dejet was happy.

"_Why do you feel so disgraced to have me?"_ inquired the voice curiously._ "I only have your best intentions in mind…"_

"Pfft, lies," retorted Tejed angrily. The voice snickered unpleasantly, a sound like fingers scratching against a chalkboard in the back of her mind. She winced at the horrid sound. Gently Dejet had taken hold of her hand and started walking down the hallway again, the hybrid in close tow. It intrigued her, the voice. Where had it come from and what was it? What kind of role did it play in Tejed's mind? The silent instigator? The obnoxious troublemaker? The disjointed personification of her insanity? Maybe it wasn't just a voice inside her head, maybe it _was_ Tejed, in some strange way she couldn't quite comprehend. Either way she was by choice of career a scientist, and she wanted to know.

"Why is it so dark in here?" she asked quietly, somehow afraid of speaking up. A pirate skull with one remaining eye moulding in its socket stared blankly at her from its spot on the wall but she ignored it. Its skull structure reminded her a bit too much of Tejed's.

"…So I don't go blind…" Tejed replied softly, after a brief moment. "And it's comforting, the darkness…"

"Eyes a bit too sensitive…?"

"…Yes…"

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, Dejet secretly glad for the dim red tinted lighting. It hid all the tiny details from her weak, human eyes that she didn't want to see. Like the severed arm jammed in a vent or the shattered mirror glinting forlornly from inside a black room. Was that writing hastily scrawled over the wall? Curious and despite her better judgement she stopped to read it. What it depicted made her shudder:

_I don't want to listen but I can hear it. STRAP ME DOWN. Someone tell me it's alright, please…Please. Please LET ME FUCKING OUT...FUCK YOU!!! _

The messy writing degraded into aggressive scribbles before terminating into equally violent gouges, as if the writer had decided writing it in pirate blood wasn't quite enough and had resorted to her claws, the feel of tearing the thick metal joyous in some primeval way.

"_Oh, I remember when you wrote that!"_ exclaimed the voice happily_. "It was after I had been heckling you for days! So, when _are_ you going to let me out again…?" _

"Never," she whispered harshly.

"_Never is a very long time, Ms. Jenal. I think you'll change your mind eventually…" _

"Fuck you," she hissed, trying her best to speak quietly, so as not to bother her sister. Dejet heard anyway but didn't turn, this whole escapade in Tejed's ship starting to get to her. The writing continued down the wall and she feigned reading it, anything to keep her from seeing the monstrosity she had inadvertently created standing almost shyly behind her, arguing with herself.

"_One of these days. One of these days, Ms. Jenal. I'm always here, always waiting, always waiting…" _

"I thought I told you to SHUT UP!" Tejed screamed suddenly, her talons scratching futilely at her head in an attempt to claw it out, ignoring the gashes she was unintentionally imparting upon herself. "You always speak up at the WORST MOMENTS!!" The voice laughed but didn't do anything, didn't jump on this opportunity to jerk her into a rage or attack the walls. It just continued to speak quietly, calmly; in no hurry at all.

"_This was exactly what we were going through when you decided to scribble that over the wall,"_ it said softly, like a dimly tinkling wind chime. _"You do this to yourself. I just sit here and watch, and listen…And speak…" _

Tejed would have none of this. The voice had been haranguing her constantly ever since she had set foot on her ship with her sister, pointing out the obvious flaws involved in letting her sister on her ship and why going to the bar again was a bad idea. Tejed suspected the voice just didn't want to get drunk again, and she was partially right in thinking that. The voice liked being in partial control, like some sort of mental parasite, and it loved bothering her. But above all else, it liked whispering to her, implanting thoughts into her mind that she preferred not to think about, dredging up old memories and subtly feeding them to her. It loved torturing her.

"And _INSTIGATE_!!"

Ignoring Dejet, the hybrid angrily lashed out at the wall, her claws, though un-armoured, leaving huge gashes in the thick steel anyway, rending it in twain with an almost sad screech. Dejet jumped back, frightened at the sudden and decidedly violent outburst.

"Jesus Christ, Tejed! Calm down!" she yelled, taking hold of her arm in an effort to calm her. Angrily, Tejed yanked her arm back and drew her claws down the wall, shuddering. Despite her haggard and terrifying appearance she looked horribly, horribly sad, almost psychotically so. Ignoring her sister and with the voice chattering inattentively at the back of her mind, she continued to draw her claws down the wall, deepening her scratches with every pass. Dejet stood back, watching her furiously vandalize the wall, before glancing down the corridor, suddenly recognizing the scratches she had seen time and time again littering the walls with the snatches of insane writings like deranged hieroglyphics. Sighing, Dejet approached her again and laid a hand on her arm. The hybrid ignored her.

"It's alright, Tejed," she said quietly. Nothing; no response. Tejed continued her misleadingly calm movements, exuding cold fury, growling lowly as she did so like a cornered animal. Dejet dug in her pocket, coming out with a small piece of hard candy she had brought with her just for the hybrid.

"Tejed, stop."

Slowly, like an old machine rusted with time that finds its actions a bit too difficult to control, Tejed slowed to a stop, her talons ironically sharpened from the impromptu attack on the wall. The new scratches gleamed more than an inch deep. She looked down at Dejet, that hard edge still lingering over her features.

"You never answered my question," stated Dejet, the candy held out. "Do you still like sweets?"

For a moment Tejed just glared balefully at her, before the hard mask fell and tenderly she took the candy. Her sharpened claws scratched painfully at Dejet's exposed palm but she made no indication of having noticed. Tejed sighed and stepped back from the wall. A thin line of blood trickled down the side of her head from the earlier scratching fit, hissed loudly for a few seconds when it hit the corroded floor. Tenderly, as if the candy was something precious from a clouded past, the hybrid gently unwrapped the piece of sweetness and gave it a tentative sniff. Her eyes became distant, far away. The scent was heart-rendingly familiar but she couldn't pinpoint it.

"It's…" She grasped at the sweet smell like an old man grasping at straws. The straws fell through her open hands. She couldn't catch it.

"It's strawberry," supplied Dejet, smiling slightly.

"Strawberry…" the hybrid parroted. She savoured the rich, synthesized smell for a moment longer before carefully placing it in her mouth, coiling around it with her serpentine tongue. Instantly her mouth was ablaze with flavour, and not the flavour of rich, sickly sweet death, either. An old, old taste she hadn't experienced for years. Strawberry.

"Oh God, Dejet! Strawberry!" she exclaimed, embracing her sister in a sudden hug, overjoyed. Dejet gasped at the abrupt gesture, the hybrid almost knocking the wind out of her lungs.

"I take it you _do_ like sweets, then?" she inquired. In response Tejed pulled her close and snuggled her affectionately, lifting her feet right off the ground in a display of sisterly warmth, totally oblivious to her strength again. For the first time in her existence, the voice was happy, too.

"_That was the single most tastiest thing we've ever had,"_ it said happily. _"I wouldn't mind another…" _

"Do you have any more?" asked Tejed quietly, for once agreeing whole-heartedly with the voice.

"Tejed…I'm not quite sure you know your own strength," Dejet choked out, her ribs rubbing painfully up against her spine. Slightly embarrassed, Tejed quickly sat her sister back down and looked at her hopefully. The hard candy had already melted in the heat of her mouth, leaving a rather pleasant aftertaste lingering on her tongue. It even managed to sweeten her breath a tad, rid it of its usually pungeant stench. Now if only the same could be done to Tejed's decidedly filthy ship.

"I brought an entire bag," said Dejet as she regained her breath, handing the hybrid a brightly coloured plastic bag just filled with the little things. Tejed looked absolutely delighted and snatched the bag away, where she proceeded to slowly eat them one by one, both her and the voice in a state of extreme bliss. Chuckling slightly, Dejet took hold of her arm and proceeded to lead her down the hallway again.

"So the candy question has been answered," she started. Tejed didn't say anything, her tongue lolling halfway out of her mouth in synthetically sweet ecstasy.

"But… Do you still like to… sing…?"

~*~

"Tejed, you're on my ship again."

"I like it here."

"How do you keep sneaking on, anyway?"

"…Magic?"

At that Gin chuckled and put his face in his one hand, smiling to himself. Tejed smiled at him from her spot in his command chair and cocked her head to the side, happy. Her messy hair hung dejectedly in front of her face but she didn't seem to either notice or care.

"Me and Dejet are going to the bar, to celebrate Ridley's defeat," she stated, her head still held at its obtuse angle. "Wanna come?" Gin was instantly suspicious.

"Not the same bar that…"

"The same bar," she confirmed. "Don't worry, I'll wear my suit this time. And I know the barkeep."

"Then what's his name?" She was silent for a moment, mouth hung open.

"…Okay, so I don't know his name, but he knows mine!" Smiling she finally got up from Gin's command chair and laid an arm across his shoulders. "It'll be fun, come on." This was creepy. Tejed was happy. She was never happy. It was starting to get to him.

"Why are you so happy?" he blurted. It was gnawing at him and he didn't know why. Maybe he was just too used to her anger. She shrugged, still smiling.

"We drove off a pissed Ridley and rescued some siblings. Am I not allowed to be happy about that?"

"But…But you're never happy…"

"I am now, though," she replied. "Better just get used to it, eh?" Chuckling she gave him a light hug and straightened again, wincing slightly from her broken ribs. Gin envied that. He had gotten a few weeks of bed rest. She…Well, she just got pain. And she was good at ignoring pain. Briefly he wondered just how much pain she was really in. Probably a lot. "So are you coming or not?" Gin shrugged. She seemed fine enough to him, regardless of the bandaged side or the limp in her walk.

"Sure," he replied quietly, her happiness strangely infectious. He found himself smiling. "Why not?" At that Tejed laughed and finally removed her arm. Dejectedly she ruffled her messy head of hair and blew a rogue strand from her face.

"Dejet said she'd help me fix up my hair before we leave," she stated happily, picking at her bangs a bit. "She said it was a rogue rat's nest. I have to agree, it's pretty damn messy. Know where she is?"

"Uh…I think she's down that way," he replied, pointing down the hallway from where he had come, only to find a Tejed draped across his command chair. Tejed instantly brightened and ruffled his hair happily before leaving without another word. Gin smiled to himself.

"Oh, that hybrid," he muttered, chuckling. He had just turned back to his now empty command room when who else but Sarah decided to run in, delighted.

"Mr. Phoenix Man!" she squealed happily, glomping herself onto his legs. Laughing he reached down and picked her up.

"What are you up to, Sarah?" he asked softly.

"The scary pirate lady just gave me a biiig hug!" she exclaimed. "It was _this_ big!" She wrapped her arms around Gin's neck and hugged him big, absolutely delighted.

"What a big hug!" he cried, faking pain. "Oh no, you're going to squeeze me to death!" She laughed and hugged him tighter before promptly releasing her hold. He set her down and gently took hold of her hand. Whether she knew it or not, Tejed was still far more human than any of them, if only she just looked at herself for more than five seconds.

"Come on, Sarah," he said warmly, leading her from the room. "Let's see where Samus is."

~*~

Tejed smiled at Dejet through the mirror, and Dejet smiled back. Carefully she took the comb to her sister's messy hair and got the scissors ready. Tejed's hair was a veritable mess, and as older sister Dejet had taken it upon herself to fix it. That and it would be a nice little bonding experience. The two hadn't spent time with each other in far, far too long.

"My god, Tejed! Your hair's a filthy mess!" exclaimed Dejet playfully, teasing the hybrid's thick white hair with an old looking comb. Tejed winced but didn't say anything. The comb caught on a particularly large knot and one of the teeth broke off. Despite herself Dejet snarled.

"What do you do, anyway?" she snapped absently. "Just let it absorb all the blood and death from the battlefield?"

At that remark Tejed instantly became despondent, sort of sunk into the chair and lowered her eyes to the ground. Dejet instantly bit her tongue.

"Oh come on, Tejed. I was just joking around."

She softened her touch with the comb, noting the flecks of dried dirt and blood that had long since stained the hybrid's hair and the deep gouges in her scalp from her earlier episode where she had scratched feverishly at her own head in an effort to claw out the voice. Tejed looked miserable, and by proxy, Dejet felt exactly the same. "White's a nice colour, you know," she said quietly. At that Tejed looked back up. She looked horribly sad. Smirking, Dejet let some of the hybrid's hair fall in front of her eyes, throwing her face into darkness and letting her eyes shine eerily from behind the curtain of her hair. "It brings out your eyes."

"I hate my eyes," replied Tejed bluntly, her expression souring. "And my hair used to be dark reddish-brown, before…" She trailed off and began sadly picking at one of her bangs, getting her finger right tangled in it. Dejet continued to calmly comb the mess, slowly straightening the unruly tangle.

"Well, it's white now," she said warmly, finally finishing the combing. "And it looks nice. It makes you look…Human." At that Tejed smiled slightly, the remark rekindling her lost happiness.

"There, see!" said Dejet happily, clapping a hand on her reinforced steel shoulder. "I knew you could still smile!" Tejed smiled wider and chuckled. Her sister always did know how to make her feel better, regardless if Tejed was an abomination of science or not. Content and happy she inspected her reflection. Her hair was much nicer now that it wasn't a frizzy mess, now that it was straight and long. Hell, her antennae almost looked natural the way they followed to curve of her hair. Tejed didn't know she could still look decent if she tried. The thought made her cheerful.

"_Ooh, aren't you Ms. Fancy?"_ commented her reflection snidely, sneering at her. Tejed started out of her seat, startled by her reflection. Alarmed, Dejet laid a comforting hand on her arm to calm her.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"_Won't you let her know about me? Let her know I exist…?"_

Slowly Tejed calmed and sunk back into the seat, her muscles relaxing from the sudden fright. She glared balefully at her reflection. It snickered playfully at her but the hallucination did not fade. It was simply too stubborn.

"_Won't you introduce us…?"_ It smiled wickedly at her.

"Tejed…?" Her sister sounded genuinely concerned, and why wouldn't she? The voice in Tejed's head never bothered her when other people were around. Why suddenly hijack her reflection and start now? When she was just getting happy again? What madness did it have up its imaginary sleeve?

"My reflection's…Talking to me…Again…" she finally said, vaguely ashamed of herself. Dejet should have seen this coming, what with the whole mirror thing Vince had going on whenever Tejed got angry at him. Which was a lot.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I should have realized--"

"--no, it's alright," interrupted Tejed, half turning to smile reassuringly at her. "My reflection always talks to me. I just ignore it."

"…Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she lied with a smile. She never ignored it, seeing as she was always alone when it happened. Usually she went into a minor rage and ended up breaking things. Not this time. She was intent on ignoring it completely and utterly. When she turned back the hallucination was still there, still just as real as it always was. It looked surprised by her words and grinned at her.

"_Why Ms. Jenal. I didn't know you cared so much for me…" _

This was too much. She was used to being mocked, both in her head and in a mirror, on her ship all the time when she was alone. But here? With her sister right behind her on Gin's ship? That wasn't right. Either the voice had gained more of a hold on her mind or her insanity was worsening. Or both.

Dejet didn't really like it either but trusted Tejed's word. If the hybrid could ignore her reflection belittling her than Dejet trusted that she could. Sighing she bent down and ruffled through the bag she had brought, finally coming out with a glittering necklace. A small gift.

"I have something for you, Tejed," she said quietly. Maybe the gift would quell the hybrid's voices for a small while. Tejed averted her eyes from her reflection and looked at Dejet through the mirror. She looked confused. Her reflection looked annoyed.

"_Don't do it…"_ it warned.

"Wha…?" she asked, not really paying attention. She was not used to receiving things and thus didn't know how to react. Dejet giggled slightly and opened the necklace's clasp.

"You lost all your social skills, didn't you?" she inquired with a laugh. Tejed blushed and looked at her feet, wringing her hands together on her lap.

"…maybe."

"_God, you're so pathetic,"_ laughed her reflection. _"Social skills? Fuck the social skills. I say you should just tear your puny excuse for a sister apart already and call it a day. But then, you never did listen to me, now did you? If you had, you'd have never gone through all that pain with Mr. Phoenix. Or shall I say, Mr. Masters…" _Ignoring the voice was easier said than done. A vivid mental image of a smashed mirror and a bloodied shard of glass passed through her mind but she didn't act on it. Instead she just glared at it. As per usual it smirked back, all in all looking very pleased with itself.

"Just ignore it," said Dejet quietly, noticing her surly expression. Gently she laced the silver chain around Tejed's neck and did up the clasp. "It's not real, it can't hurt you." The reflection cocked its head to the side and averted its gaze to Dejet, still grinning immorally, like it had some insidious plan up its imaginary sleeve. Tejed felt the weight of dread in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like where this was going.

"_Oh can't I…?" _

Without warning a sharp burning sting erupted around the hybrid's neck and she cried out in sudden pain, clutching at the thin chain. Her expression quickly melted from surly anger to confused shock, her eyes wide. Instantly she looked at her reflection. It was smiling at her, chuckling impishly, its hands clutched around a length of barbed wire wound around its neck. Already the blood was starting to seep through, hissing against the rusted wire. The pain grew more intense.

"_What was that your sister said again?"_ mocked the reflection. Dejet looked terrified but didn't for the life of her know what to do, how to help. _"Just ignore me? I'm harmless? Is all your family full of such ignorance…?" _

Breath coming in pained gasps Tejed managed to get her fingers around the necklace and give a violent tug, shattering the fragile chain like a piece of silver string. It chimed lightly as it hit the floor. The pendant attached to it glinted, confused by what had happened. Still gasping for breath Tejed doubled forwards and put a hand around her neck. There was no wound, no blood, but it continued to burn as if on fire.

"Jesus, Tejed. Are you alright?" Dejet put her arms around the hybrid's shoulders. She continued to gasp for the breath that was having a jolly time evading her.

"_Ooh, what's that?"_ mocked the voice, sneering disdainfully. _"Behind you, with its filthy arms across your shoulders? Could it be…A space pirate…?" _

The hybrid's ears twitched and quickly she looked up. Dejet was no longer there. Now it was exactly as the voice had predicted: a gnarled old brute of a space pirate with a laser pistol pushed up against her temple. She stopped breathing and stared at it, terrified.

"_Any time now, Ms. Jenal. Before it decapitates you., leaves you with a pretty little stump where your head used to be…" _It trailed off into sadistic laughter, amused by the chaos it was creating. The laughter was the only thing Tejed heard, her thoughts clouded by fear, and in a momentary loss of sanity she jumped out of the chair and swung her claws backwards, hoping all to hell she'd kill the pirate before it did her. A pang of pain travelled up her broken ribs and she almost collapsed right then and there. She felt her claws collide with flesh a split second before she realized what was happening.

Dejet cried out in terror and stumbled backwards, her arm torn open. Tejed finally regained her breath, seeing the pirate for what it was: her sister. The realization was abrupt and painful and Tejed felt her heart wrench accordingly.

"Dejet…" she muttered, her voice quavering. She started shivering and looked at her hands. They were covered in red blood, human blood. She glared back at the mirror. Her reflection waved at her and smirked playfully.

"You FUCKER!" she screamed. Without hesitation she kicked out at the mirror, shattering the reflective glass into a million glittering pieces. She heard the sounds of footsteps running down the halls but ignored them. She was too confused, too frightened and hurt. Dejet was holding her arm, crying as it bled onto the floor. When Tejed finally looked away from the broken mirror Vince was in the doorway, staring in horror at Dejet. He ran up to her and held her close before glaring at Tejed, spying the fresh blood on her claws.

"God damnit, Tejed!" He didn't sound all that pleased. Lucky for him, neither did the shaken hybrid in question. She hugged herself tight, trying to quell her violent shivering, to no avail. Dejet moved to help her but Vince held her back, a hand a little too protectively on her shoulder.

"You could have killed her!" he continued, referring to Dejet. At that the hybrid finally looked up, confused and terrified and sad. "You're bloody dangerous, Tejed! Another inch and you'd be down a sister!" Tejed opened her mouth to say something but couldn't seem to find her voice, however mangled it was. Instead the shivering finally faded and she slowly straightened. Gin appeared in the doorway behind Vince but he made no move to interrupt.

"I'm...Sorry…" she whispered harshly, taking a small step towards them, a hand held out. Bright red blood dripped off the ends of her talons, contrasting sharply with her dark green skin.

"Stay back, you crazy freak," he said coldly. Instantly he raised his pistol, sighted her down the barrel. At that moment Gin decided it would be a good time to intervene before his brother's anger got in the way and jumped at him. His arm came down in the crook of Vince's elbow and the gun clattered to the floor before he even knew what had happened. Quick as a flash Gin grabbed him in a choke hold. Vince didn't like it all that much. He instantly started struggling, Dejet having backed into a corner when Gin had run in.

"You're too fucking insane to come near her; too dangerous!" Vince yelled, Gin calmly holding him in place. Tejed looked distraught. "Go somewhere else, somewhere where you can't hurt anyone!!"

Dejet was still crying and the sight of her made the hybrid sick to her stomach, especially when she looked up at Tejed. Fear hung over her face like a sticky web. Tejed liked it when pirates were afraid of her, when Federation officials were afraid of her, but when Dejet was afraid of her, well, then Tejed was afraid of herself. And she scared herself more than anything else did. She scared herself more than the pirates and the Federation and an angry Gin combined.

"I didn't…Didn't mean to…" she said quietly, unable to look away from her terrified sister. Her words seemed to anger Vince even more.

"You lying _fucker_!" he yelled, struggling even harder against Gin. It was obvious he wanted to hurt Tejed badly, and in her weakened state, both mentally and physically, he could probably do it, too, mutated hybrid or not. "All you _do_ is hurt things! You're messed in the head, you freak! You're short a couple hundred screws and the ones you have are rusted and broken! Why are you even still here?! Get out!"

She winced but stayed in place, reluctant to leave when her sister was so blatantly pained.

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" screamed Vince, furious. "Go anywhere! Anywhere but _here_!!"

Tejed felt a hard lump form in her throat and instead withdrew her hand and took a small step backwards, towards the open door. She felt the dampness of the tear run down her face but didn't pay it any heed. Vince was right. She _was_ dangerous. If Gin had any sort of brain in that pretty boy skull of his he would have locked her up in an insane asylum the moment they met. It was where she belonged, where she couldn't hurt anyone ever again. Where she couldn't hurt her sister.

"…I'll…I'll be in the bar…" she said softly, finally turning from them. She couldn't run from the truth any longer. Screw celebrations. What was there to celebrate when you were sick? Oh so very sick?

"Tejed, wait!" called Gin tiredly, Vince still in his hold. She stopped and looked back at him with a heavy heart but didn't say anything, kept her dead expression in place. "Don't go out there without your suit, please? For me?" She sighed and slowly nodded once before leaving without another word, her gait slow and shuffling and with a discernable limp from her earlier injury. Gin turned his attention back to Vince, angry at him for what he had said. He gave the man's arm a good twist to show him he meant business.

"What are you, stupid?" he asked crossly. He finally let him go but only after giving him a swift smack upside the head. Instantly Vince bent to retrieve his pistol but Gin stomped on it and kicked it away. It skittered underneath a bulkhead and Vince stopped and straightened. He glared at Gin for a few seconds before glancing back worriedly at Dejet. She was still curled up in the corner, holding her still bleeding arm. The gash was deep, must have sliced something serious. The hybrid always did make sure to keep her claws nice and sharp, so Vince wouldn't be surprised if she had cut an artery or something equally serious.

"No, I'm protective," he replied, finally tearing his gaze away from the red splotches splattered over the floor. When he looked back at Gin he looked determined and angry. He always did have an anger problem, experimental drug or not, and when it came to protecting the people he loved his temper tended to skyrocket. "Tejed's fucking dangerous and she went too far that time."

"What, and you think she doesn't know that?" snapped Gin. "You think she's a cold heartless space pirate beast with no emotions? Did you see the sorrow in her eyes? The grief on her face? Do you seriously think she doesn't care?"

It would have been fruitless to say that Vince was hurt. Whose side was Gin on, anyway? They were brothers, for god's sake. Didn't that mean they looked out for one another? Didn't that mean they agreed with each other on everything? Or had they grown that far apart? Disdainfully rubbing his now sore arm Vince turned and stormed out of the room, an air of cold hatred following him. The pistol peeked out from beneath the bulkhead. He ignored it as he passed and instead gave it a good kick. Now he had a new reason to dislike Tejed. She had hurt the one woman that he had inadvertently grown close to. He liked Dejet. And if he had to keep her safe from her own sister, the so be it.

"You idiot," muttered Gin after he had left. So much for trying to be the voice of reason. Now Tejed was hurt again and he didn't know what she was going to do. Gin knew that she was unpredictable, had seen it firsthand, and when she was under emotional duress was when she was the most impulsive, the most erratic. Sighing he quickly ran to Dejet's side and tenderly inspected her arm. It was still bleeding, slow and unremitting. Maybe Tejed _had_ hit an artery.

"How are you feeling, Dejet?" he asked quietly. She was starting to look pale.

"T-Tejed," she stuttered, grasping futilely at his arm. "Wh-where--h-how…"

"She's gone," he stated, gently picking her up, surprised by her weight, or absence thereof. "We have to get you to the medical bay. You've lost a lot of blood." At that she buried her face in his shoulder and started crying again. It amazed Gin how the hybrid had almost killed her own sister out of some twisted insanity and Dejet still refused to think badly of her. As he left the room something glittering on the floor caught his eye but he ignored it, more pressing matters at hand.

"T-tell Tejed th-tha--"

"--Shh," he said quietly, already on his way to the medical bay. A trail of blood grew in his wake. She closed her eyes and didn't say anything more, her breathing becoming shallow. Gin knew she would be more or less fine. The medical bay was only a small ways away and she hadn't lost consciousness yet. Now only if the same could be said for Tejed. And Vince…

~*~

"_Are we going to that damn bar again…?" _

"Will you please just shut the fuck up and leave me alone?"

"_Wait, let me think about this…No. I'm going to have to stick with no…" _

The hallucination still hadn't faded. A voice inside her head was once thing. Mirrors were another. She had grown to live with both. But now the voice had decided to hijack the reflection of her face on the inside of her visor. And that was starting to piss her off.

"_Did you see her bleed?"_ it asked excitedly, jabbering away at her from between the muddle of HUD information projected inside the visor. _"When we attacked her? When we struck her? When _your_ claws made contact? I wish I were in the driver's seat, Ms. Jenal. I'd love to feel the raw visceral power that you get to enjoy every day…"_

"I didn't enjoy that," she snapped. A couple of humans nearby quickly got out of her way. Good, she thought sullenly. Don't get in the way of the insane hybrid, she'll just rip you to pieces. Her reflection smiled insidiously at her, its eyes flashing.

"_You enjoyed it,"_ it pressed. Its voice had dropped an octave and became scratchy, deep. Tejed didn't like it. The sooner she got to that damned bar already and drunk herself to sleep, the better. _"You enjoyed it more than anything. The rush, the adrenaline. The _power_. The knowledge. Why stick to pirates when there's so many _humans_ wandering around here…?" _

"I enjoyed the candy, I didn't enjoy that," she spat angrily. "Now fuck out of my reflection before I tear off my helmet and stomp on it." An old, worn building a block away with a few people loitering outside. Only a block. Only one more block. The reflection sneered and waggled a finger at her like a reproachful mother.

"_Now, now, can't have that, now can we? We promised Mr. Masters--"_

"--Not to go gallivanting around with no helmet, I know, I know. Now shut up."

"_But I like talking," _it replied quickly._ "After all, I'm just an imaginary voice inside your head. Nothing real about me…" _

"Sometimes I wonder…"

One block down. The building was right beside her, the entrance only a few feet away. Tejed liked the oldness of the building, it reminded her of an old, old life, in a different country, speaking a different language, with no one but her sister and her parents to keep her company. And the wildlife. She vaguely remembered the forests and the wildlife she used to play with. Gently she brought her gauntleted hand up to the wall as she walked, feeling the old worn bricks. They had a peculiar thick grain-like texture that she loved. For a brief second she dearly wanted to go to her old home, to her parents. But that was impossible.

"_Over there!" _

The voice grabbed at her mind and she stumbled into the wall, surprised by the unexpected attack. The people loitering around the bar's entrance decided it would be a good time to leave and scrambled into their vehicles. Angrily Tejed seized her helmet but refrained from tearing it off. The voice snickered at her and slowly released its hold, drawing its fangs out slowly and painfully. Tejed winced and shuddered, the feel of it like cold claws sinking into her spine.

"What the fuck was _that_?!" she yelled, startling some patrons inside. They stared at her through the windows but made no move to leave. They did, though, mutter amongst themselves. No doubt spreading rumours, she thought bitterly, straightening from the attack. Her reflection merely shrugged and smiled.

"_Wanted to see if I could,"_ it replied darkly. She started walking again only to stumble forwards. Her ribs hurt like hell. Diligently she ignored the pain and paused for a moment beside the entrance, holding her side and leaning against the doorway for support.

"Well you can, so don't do it again," she muttered angrily. "Let me have some peace."

Without another word she entered the building and stopped for a second, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She fiddled with the side of her helmet, turned down the tinting a bit.

"_Peace?" _the voice parroted, mock confusion._ "I don't think that word is in my vocabulary…" _

"Is 'shut the fuck up' in your vocabulary?" she seethed quietly.

"_Wait, let me think…No. No it's not…" _

With a heavy, frustrated sigh she ignored the voice and limped over to the main counter. The barkeep sort of shied away from her and despite herself she chuckled. It was the same man from last time. He even had the shotgun still leaning up against the back wall. She pulled up a stool and sat heavily, glancing around the bar. Unlike last time, there was no sudden silence when she had entered, just a slight dip in volume. They didn't know she was a space pirate hybrid, they only saw the suit, and thus only saw a bounty hunter. Tejed smiled slightly. She liked that.

"What can I get for you?"

She turned back to the counter. The barkeep shied back but remained in front of her. Apparently he wasn't the type to ignore a customer, no matter how fearsome in appearance, and Tejed liked that. She almost had some respect for this guy. The atmosphere of the place was beginning to brighten Tejed's dismal mood some. She cocked her head to the side.

"You don't remember me?" she asked playfully. He winced at her broken voice, warped from her helmet, and slowly shook his head. Gently Tejed reached up and undid the hatches on her helmet before sliding it off, happy to get away from her reflection. The barkeep started back at the sight of her face but recognized her all the same. She allowed herself a small smile and set the helmet on the counter top beside her.

"I told you I'd have to come back," she said with a throaty chuckle. The barkeep smiled nervously, her name eluding him, unsure what to do.

"Miss…" he trailed off. That was all he remembered. That she apparently was a she and wasn't a space pirate. Even though she looked like one. And sounded like one. And had the temperament of one.

"Tejed," she answered, still smiling slightly. His nervousness amused her. "Tejed Jenal. I never got your name last time."

"Uh…It's…It's Ryan," he replied, still nervous as hell. Tejed nodded once and extended her hand in greeting.

"Nice to formally meet you, Ryan," she said quietly. He stared at her outstretched hand for a moment almost as if it were a deadly creature, before finally slowly clutching it in a not so friendly shake. Gently she shook back before reclaiming her hand. Ryan was finding the whole situation incredibly awkward. Tejed was finding it entertaining in a droll sort of way. It got her mind of her wounded sister and her growing sickness, if not for a few seconds. She leaned to the side and put her face in her hand, still staring at Ryan.

"So what's that stuff called, anyway?" she asked suddenly, changing the topic. Anything to keep her mind occupied. The barkeep didn't follow, her question abrupt. "The alcohol, that I had last time?"

"Oh, _that_," he replied. He was less nervous but still slightly scared. Uneasily he glanced around behind the counter, as though he had forgotten long ago what it was called, simply because he had never actually sold any of it. He spied a bottle hidden underneath the counter and bent to retrieve it. "It's…Uh…Rigelian Screech, apparently." Tejed snickered.

"Fitting name, I suppose." He set the bottle on the counter-top in front of Tejed and allowed himself to lean on his side of the counter almost casually. Smirking Tejed reached forwards and inspected the old, dusty bottle. Some of the acrid dust found its way to her nose and she almost sneezed from it.

"…2042?" she asked, checking the expiration date. "This shit is older than me!" At that Ryan snorted, a wry smile having grown over his face. His nervousness seemed to have melted away but he was still vaguely frightened, if only because she was half space pirate and he didn't know her all that well.

"But it's still good, isn't it?"

"It's 2084, for god's sake! This shit is more than four decades old!" she replied with a gruff laugh, setting the large, clunky bottle back down. Glancing to the side she caught her reflection in her helmet. It was glaring angrily at the bottle, as though it remembered what had happened last time Tejed had gotten drunk. Despite her better judgement Tejed sneered sadistically and took hold of the bottle again, addressing the reflection.

"You don't like this shit, do you, you fucker?" she hissed quietly. It averted its attention to her and scowled, but didn't say anything. At that Tejed's grin widened. "Yeah, I thought so." She allowed herself a low, hoarse chuckle. Anything that got the voice to stay silent was good in her books. And Ryan, well, Ryan was just plain confused, so much so that he didn't say anything for fear she'd do something erratic. Just because he was less nervous didn't mean he wasn't still frightened. Tejed's sadistic grin fell and she let go of the bottle.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. She sounded vaguely ashamed that she had addressed the voice in front of a complete stranger. It chuckled at the back of her mind. "Don't mind my insane ramblings…"

"Are you…" started Ryan, unsure if he should continue. Tejed looked sad. He decided to continue anyway. "…Not quite…All there…?" he finished, motioning vaguely at his head. Unprompted Vince's harsh words came back to mind and Tejed felt hideously guilty. She leaned forwards until her head was resting on her arms and sighed heavily, close to tears, glad that her gauntlets covered the red blood stains she had deigned to clean off her claws.

"I'm short a couple hundred screws and the ones I do have are rusted and broken," she answered quietly, remembering how eloquently Vince had phrased it. The voice snickered.

"_Very apt description, Ms. Jenal. I don't think Mr. Vincent realized how spot on he was when he said it…" _

Grumbling angrily Tejed grabbed the bottle again, this time making a point to crack it open and give the opened end a tentative sniff. Instantly she withdrew, the powerful scent scalding the inside of her nose like a potent chemical. Ryan burst into laughter at her reaction, reminded of a small child despite her haggard appearance. His laughter caught her off guard and she looked back up at him, cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"That's what you get for sticking your nose in there," he replied quietly, smiling. "It's been sitting on my shelf for decades. And it only gets more potent as the years go by." At that Tejed smiled. So that was why this bar had such a good, light-hearted atmosphere. It had an equally good, light-hearted owner. And now that he knew her a little he was no longer nervous. Just frightened. Still.

"Not quite potent enough, though," she teased, finally taking a good swig of the stuff. As per usual it burnt her throat like acid. As per usual she loved the sensation. Ryan merely shook his head.

"That stuff is so powerful I use it as an industrial grade cleaner," he said quietly, amazed. "And then you come along and start drinking it. How am I going to clean my floors now?" Tejed shrugged. This man, with his bar and his terribly strong alcohol, was making her happy.

"Buy some actual cleaning chemicals?"

"Those _were_ my actual cleaning chemicals!" he exclaimed, laughing. Tejed chuckled and took another sip, eyeing him sideways. The first time she had met him he had pointed a shotgun at her head and told her to get out. Now he was joking with her, almost like he did with his regular customers. It made her feel better about her sordid excuse for a life. It made her feel human. It made her feel like Tejed Jenal again.

"You are a strange man," she finally said, placing the heavy bottle down carefully.

"I'm strange?" he replied with an eyebrow cocked. She seemed tame enough now that he sort of knew her. He decided to joke with her a bit. "You're the abomination of science, not me." Tejed sort of smiled halfway, a faraway smirk, and sighed. He was too jovial to get angry at, regardless of unintentional insults or not.

"Yeah. I guess I am," she said softly. A patron called Ryan over from the other side of the main room. He shrugged at her before promptly scurrying off, a rag still him his hand from the glass he had been cleaning when she came in. Sighing again and muttering quietly to herself she turned back to the bar and inspected the customers.

Some of them she could instantly recognize. There was the same fat man, except this time he was sitting farther to the back with a group of people. Maybe he had made some friends. The gang was gone, their table occupied by some young adults, and with a pang Tejed realized that Sarah's family was not there, either. Gin had told her what had happened, how Sarah's family had been killed by the Federation. It made her feel sick to the stomach. Why would the Federation do such a thing?

"_Because they're bloodthirsty,"_ answered the voice. It started up a quiet tune at the back of her mind and began singing along to it. _"Just like us…" _

"Fuck off, we're--_I'm_ not like the Federation," she snapped, momentarily adopting the voice's method of speech.

"_Oh yes we are,"_ it sang jovially, slowly playing with her mind, sliding its fangs in. The slowness of it was in many ways far more painful than its sudden attacks and she shuddered, her breath becoming pained.

"Don't do that," she whispered harshly. It stopped for a moment.

"_Don't do what?"_ it asked innocently. _"Don't do…_This_…?"_ It did it again, this time slower and more torturous. Shuddering and gasping the hybrid turned back to the counter and slouched forwards, grasping her head with her shaking claws. The voice laughed and did it again, this time pushing its claws deeper into her mind but still as mind-numbingly slow. It almost fell like her talons were being ripped out one by one and she clenched her hands into fists in a vain attempt to stop it.

"_I know something you don't know, I know something you don't know,"_ it sang amiably, enjoying her pain. The hybrid growled and grabbed her ears, glad that the barkeep was currently elsewhere.

"Stop singing, god damnit."

"_But you looove to sing, Ms. Jenal…" _it replied, still butchering her mind.

"No I don't!" she replied quickly, wondering when it was going to leave her alone, if ever.

"_When your wonderful sister mentioned it I had to dig into your memories, and sure enough, there it was. You loved it so much, Ms. Jenal. Why don't you sing, anymore…?" _Bit by bit it drew its fangs out for the last time, seeming almost sad. It deigned to do it again and still breathing heavily Tejed straightened up, shivering from an unknown chill.

"…How in the hell do you remember something that I don't?" she asked quietly, suspicious. The voice's sad tone fell and it took on a menacing air.

"_Because I stole it…" _it replied darkly, starting up the singing again. _"I stole it, I stole it, I stole them one by one. You'll let me out, you'll let me out, and then we'll have some _fun_…" _

"You're fucking insane," she muttered, tuning out its song, ignoring the hypocrisy dripping from her own words. She wasn't in the mood for the voice's antics. That was why she had come here. To get drunk and hope that it would get drunk, too, and finally give her some peace, or whatever synonym of 'peace' that was in its vocabulary. The bar door's opened and closed but she ignored it, too set on forgetting what she had done earlier. The old taste of metallic death was creeping back into her mouth and she didn't like it.

"_Ooh, look, who's that?"_ chided the voice. _"It looks like that wonderful sister of yours. Oh! And her arm is all bandaged up! Isn't that just wonderful, Ms. Jenal…?"_

The hybrid almost dropped the heavy bottle and quickly turned to the door. Sure enough Dejet was there, with that bastard Vince close behind and Gin taking up the rear. Samus was elsewhere, most likely away on a bounty or taking care of Sarah.

"Just…Wonderful…" muttered Tejed, trying all to hell to make herself inconspicuous. Which was of course impossible. She was seven feet tall and bedecked in a clunky bronzed suit. Inconspicuous for Tejed was like hiding a brick in a room full of balloons. It just couldn't be done. Ryan appeared behind the counter and glanced towards the main door, waving over at the newcomers. Tejed just slouched forwards and stared into the bottle, wishing they wouldn't see her.

"_Nope. They saw you,"_ mocked the voice. _"It's the suit. You stick out like a sore thumb. Why'd'ya wear it if you want to be unobtrusive…?"_

"As opposed to coming here without my suit?" she groaned, unwilling to look up. "And getting a shotgun to the temple?"

"_Oh pshaw. You're hardy, we'd survive…" _

"That's what I'm afraid of…"

"What's wrong?" asked Ryan, noticing her sorrow. She didn't look up and didn't say anything. Any time now Vince would say something harsh. And she didn't want to see him when he did.

"Oh, look. It's the freak," commented Vince loudly, a few seconds later. Just as she had surmised. Gin elbowed him in the ribs but he paid it no heed, just sneered at Tejed's hunched over back. "Don't go near it; it's rabid."

"Just ignore him," she whispered to herself, fighting the urge to rip his head off and stuff it somewhere unpleasant. He took her quiet muttering as surrender and smiled. Carefully Dejet took a seat beside her and his smile faded.

"Be careful, Dejet," Vince warned with a sneer. "That beast is out of control." She glared back at him but Tejed remained in the same position.

"I was never in control, to begin with," she whispered sadly. Ryan got the hint and left to chatter with his other customers, intent on letting the two have some time alone. Gin grabbed Vince by the arm and pulled him to an empty table in the far back corner where he could give him a good talking to. Tenderly Dejet laid a hand on Tejed's arm. At length the hybrid tore her gaze from the dusty bottle of overly potent alcohol and looked down at her. Dejet smiled up at her reassuringly. Her arm was bandaged, no doubt stitched up its entire length like a zipper. Some blood had stained the white bandages dark red and quickly Tejed looked away.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered harshly. There were the tears again, threatening to spill like overturned pitchers.

"Hey, it's alright," said Dejet softly. "You didn't mean it."

"Didn't I?"

"It was the voice."

"I thought you were a _pirate_." Dejet considered for a moment.

"The voice…" she said again, staring at the hybrid, intrigued. "I'd like to talk to the voice someday…" Tejed finally turned back to her, a few tears streaking down her face.

"I'm pretty sure you don't," she rasped.

"Come to the table with us," Dejet offered, already off the stool. Tejed glanced back at the table Gin and Vince were currently stationed at and sighed heavily. "It'll be nice. We can talk better over there." The hybrid hesitated. On one hand she'd be at a quiet table with Dejet and Gin. On the other hand she'd be at a quiet table with Dejet and Vince. Unconsciously she grabbed the bottle and held it close, unsure what to do.

"…But Vince hates me…" she whispered.

"He does not _hate_ you," replied Dejet sternly. "Hate implies that he wants to hurt you."

"But he _does_ want to hurt me. Because _I_ hurt _you_." Dejet did not have a response for that and with a sigh sat down again. It would have been easy for Tejed to solve all her problems with violence, a method the voice agreed all too heartily with. She had claws, she had teeth, and she had a unique brand of bloodthirst that demanded to be sated. It would be too easy to just kill everyone and call it a day. No more 'friends' to deal with, no more emotional duress. But that was where the problem lied. Tejed couldn't just kill Vince and be happy about it. Vince had a brother, whom she still liked. Tejed had a sister who was strangely close to the aforementioned man. Killing Vince would shatter the finely woven web that had been inadvertently weaved between them all and the hybrid also had that pesky thing called a conscience that would leave her horrified for the rest of her life.

In short, killing Vince, no matter how much she hated him, was absolutely out of the question.

"…Fine," conceded Tejed, slowly standing. "I'll go with you." Delighted, Dejet grabbed her arm with her good hand and pulled her through the tables to the back.

"_If only you had listened to me all that time ago you wouldn't be in this mess,"_ mocked the voice. It started singing again. _"Kill them all, kill them all, leave them all dead. We'll have a happy romp through hell and then we'll be well fed…" _It trailed off into mordant laughter and Tejed gave her head a quick shake to silence it.

"She's hearing voices again!" cried Vince scathingly as she took a heavy seat across from him. He motioned for Dejet to sit beside him but she sat beside Tejed, instead. That simple action didn't sit too well with Vince and he shot the hybrid a death glare. She simply glared right back, hoping he'd pull his pistol on her, give her a reason to decimate him.

"How's your arm, Dejet?" asked Gin softly, intent on breaking the tension.

"_Hopefully it'll get contaminated,"_ whispered the voice happily. Tejed's left eye twitched. _"Our claws cut mighty deep. Maybe we cut an artery, scratched the bone. Maybe she'll get a deadly blood infection and we'll have to put her out of her misery…" _ Laughter, of the psychotic variety, followed by that damnable singing. _"Kill her quick, kill her in her sleep. Silent slayer, but we won't weep…" _

"It's fine," answered Dejet, picking at the bandages. The attack had nicked an artery, a thin scratch along the arterial wall. No severed vessels, just a nick. Hadn't even hit bone. The voice continued its singing and Tejed couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't hold in her tears even if she wanted to and without warning broke down.

"Why the hell don't you just blame me already?!" she cried, her eye twitch having grown into a full on facial tic. Instinctively Vince reached for his pistol but Gin just slapped him upside the head. "Vince over there has the right idea!" she continued, pointing a shaking claw over at him. The volume of the bar dipped slightly and a few curious customers turned to watch. "All he does is belittle and insult me, and why shouldn't he? Look at me! I'm a psychotic monster and I almost killed you and you just brush it away and say it was the voice! What's wrong with you are you stupid or something?!" Dejet looked taken aback by the sudden outburst and confused as hell. Most of the bar had gone silent and all eyes had turned towards their table. By this time Tejed was sobbing and clutching at her ears and looked frightened and bewildered and distressed all at the same time.

"My face is so hideous, Dejet. It's like I'm wearing a repulsive green mask, and sometimes I just want to dip my face in acid and melt the damn thing off so you can see the real Tejed underneath. But that'll never happen, because if I dipped my face in acid my flesh would melt off and you'd see my skull, and I really don't think my skull looks like yours anymore, it's probably some ugly excuse for a mutated, malformed monstrosity with filthy yellow fangs and sunken sockets and--"

She abruptly doubled over onto the table and began sobbing into the wood, her faintly glowing tears eating the tiniest of holes into the table-top before loosing what little potency they had. The sight of the hybrid crying, so helpless and vulnerable, got to Vince, and with a heavy sigh he let go of his pistol and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed athwart his chest.

"Shh, Tejed. It's alright," cooed Dejet quietly, putting an arm awkwardly over her shoulders. Quick as a flash the hybrid had wrapped her arms around her sister and was crying into her shoulder, her face buried in her hair.

"It hurts to cry," she wept. "The tears burn on the way out and the pain only makes me cry more. It's the phazon. Why is there so much phazon, Dejet? Why is there so much?"

The question caught Dejet off guard and only managed to remind her that she was the one who wrote up the plans for Tejed and decided on the final amount of phazon in her system. The hybrid was distraught that Dejet didn't blame her for the earlier outburst, but she didn't seem to realize that Dejet herself was equally upset over mutating her sister in the first place. She sighed, feeling very close to tears, herself.

"It's alright," she said quietly. "It's alright, don't cry." It wasn't alright, but her quiet words calmed Tejed and she stopped crying, though she still felt downright miserable. Still sniffling slightly, and the tears still burning her tear ducts ever so slightly, she straightened and glanced around the bar. Quickly everyone turned away and went back to their conversations, embarrassed that she had caught them looking.

"This was supposed to be a celebration," muttered Tejed dejectedly, turning back to her friends. "Why aren't we celebrating?" Vince grinned.

"Because you're--" Gin elbowed him in the side before he could finish his sentence and put a new damper on the already dismal mood. Vince rubbed his now sore side and glared at his brother. Gin paid it no heed and smiled warmly at Tejed.

"It _is_ a celebration," he said quietly. He turned to look for the barkeep but couldn't spot him. Tejed sort of half smiled, if only because she still liked Gin and he still had his elusive habit of making her feel better, whether he knew it or not.

"You forgot your helmet."

The hybrid jumped, startled, and turned to find Ryan smiling nervously at her with her helmet in his hands.

"…Thank you," she said quietly, gently taking it back. Still slightly out of it from her crashing sorrow she motioned towards her friends, Gin first. "This is G--"

"--Vaughn Masters, you sly dog," whispered Ryan with a grin, pulling up a chair. Gin sort of stared at him for a moment before it sunk in. "What are you doing in a place like this? With such…" He gave Tejed a sideways look before turning his attention back to Gin. "…_Interesting_ people…?" Gin leaned forwards, intrigued.

"Ryan? Ryan Jack? God, it's been so long!" Ryan nodded, chuckling slightly. Tejed was full of confusion, lots and lots of confusion. She opened her mouth to speak before promptly closing it, completely and utterly confused. Either her insanity had swung her mood into confusion or the aptly named Rigelian Screech was taking effect. She _had_ managed to drain the entire bottle without realizing it, and it was not a small bottle, either.

"He sells me stuff," explained Gin quietly, noticing her half open mouth and dumbfounded expression. "…_Illegal_ stuff." Vince let out a loud guffaw.

"You're in the black market?" he inquired, honestly curious. Ryan shrugged.

"Been for decades, now. Vaughn here's my best customer." Vince clapped his brother on the shoulder, his anger with Tejed forgotten for the moment.

"You bastard!" he said happily. "You never told me you had insiders!"

"It…Never really came up," replied Gin quietly. "You know, what with the whole _secret_ thing? Besides, Ryan's more of a close friend than an insider, anyhow." He put subtle emphasis on 'secret', as though Vince should stop talking before he spilled something important. Vince got the hint and quieted down, though he still looked giddy with excitement. Tejed snorted and shook her head slightly.

"Secrets," she muttered, absently tracing a claw over the thick glass of the empty bottle. "The universe has too many secrets."

"Want another bottle?" asked Ryan cheerfully. She eyed him for a brief moment before saying, slowly, "...Sure."

"I'll be back," he said happily, patting her on the shoulder before he left. She sighed, frustrated and confused and angry at herself, both for doing what she did and listening to the voice, again. Samus was right. All it gave her was bad ideas, and in her crazed state she tended to listen. And listening was bad. It almost killed her sister. She sighed again and absently tapped at the front of her suit, tracing a finger over the huge dent from Ridley's tail that she had partially fixed earlier that day. The steel was still torn and mangled but it was no longer digging painfully into shattered ribs, so it was all good.

"Who fixed your suit?" asked Vince spitefully, bored now that Ryan was gone. Gin gave him a sideways glare but he ignored it.

"…I did," she answered quietly. She didn't want to talk to Vince. The man was an ass and he hated her, and she didn't blame him. He snorted.

"What, did you punch it back into place?" he sneered. "Fixed it with brute strength?" She would have glared at him in much the same way his brother currently was. Instead she sighed heavily again and averted her eyes to the floor.

"Yeah," she replied. "That's exactly what I did." Ryan came back and sat back down, a new bottle of the ridiculously strong alcohol now in front of the hybrid. Almost immediately Ryan and Gin started talking, catching up on each other's lives. Tejed only half listened, tuned their pointless chatter out. They were talking about old friends, something about Tenenbaum and her little sister, a new recruit to the organization Ryan worked for named Atlas. Nonsense. Nothing but nonsense. Vince had gotten caught up in their conversation, as had Dejet, leaving the hybrid alone. She cracked open the bottle and took a sip before turning to the rest of the bar, glad that the voice had decided the shut up.

A customer a few tables away was gawking at them while simultaneously scribbling notes onto a pad. The hybrid snarled. He didn't seem to notice her looking.

"Hey!" she called. He looked up quickly, surprised. "What the fuck are you doing?" He gaped like a stranded fish for a few minutes.

"N-n-nothing!" he replied shakily, gathering up his meagre belongings. "N-nothing at all! Bye!" Without another word he darted from the bar. Tejed cocked her head to the side, confused by his odd behaviour, before promptly dismissing it. She didn't really care, anyway. Most likely he had caught Gin's real name in the conversation and done a double take. The Masters family was too well known for its own good.

"Who was that?" asked Dejet as the hybrid turned back to the conversation. She just shrugged and took a large gulp of her screech.

"Iunno," she slurred, drooling slightly. Dejet cocked an eyebrow.

"You're drooling," she stated. Tejed wiped her mouth and looked at her drool covered hand.

"…So I am," she replied, taking another swig. Dejet didn't look at all impressed and gently took hold of the bottle her sister was intent on emptying in the shortest time possible.

"Will you be alright? To get back to your ship?" she asked quietly. The others continued talking, ignoring the hybrid and her sister. Tejed was silent for a moment before gently pulling her arm away and bringing the bottle back to her lips.

"I'll be fine," she replied hoarsely, eyeing the blood stained bandage wrapped around Dejet's arm. Dejet leaned back into her seat and sighed.

"I hope so," she said quietly. Tejed paid her no heed and downed the bottle before asking Ryan for another. "I hope so."

~*~

High Commander Johnson inspected Jim's rather plush office, his hands clasped behind his back and his face set into a wry little smile. His appearance had been rather unexpected and Jim wasn't quite sure what the High Commander wanted. He had simply strolled into his office without a word and hadn't said anything, and that had been a good ten minutes ago.

"I don't like you, Jim," he said suddenly, breaking the silence. Jim jumped but didn't respond right away. Despite his abrupt words High Commander Johnson sounded pleased with himself, happy, even. He was still smiling.

"Yes, sir," replied Jim loudly, so the High Commander wouldn't catch his irritation.

"You bother me," the High Commander continued. He started pacing around the room, inspecting the corners as if for the tiniest mote of dust, for incriminating evidence. "I don't like your accent, I don't like your attitude, and I don't like your face."

"...Yes, sir."

"I don't even know why I hired you. Oh, wait. Because you're damn good at what you do. And what exactly do you do again?" Jim thought for a moment, not because he had forgotten, but because he was refraining himself from insulting the High Commander.

"I…I run the Elite project and the hiring of bounty hunters, sir."

"Yes, of course," High Commander Johnson said jovially, as if he himself had forgotten. It was all one big facade. Smiling good-naturedly he finally turned his attention away from the corners and back to Jim. "You're good at that. You did good with the Elite project…Until they all died or ran away or went insane. And none of the hunters like you. Every bounty hunter you hire eventually comes to me and complains. Understand, Jim?"

"Yes, sir." The impromptu meeting was starting to rub him the wrong way but like hell if he was going to show it. He liked his job. And High Commander Johnson did not like smart ass remarks.

"And say something more than just 'yes, sir," snapped Johnson, growing weary of the repetitive answers.

"…I'm a bother, sir. You hate me, sir."

"Exactly," the High Commander smiled, finally taking a seat on his side of Jim's desk. Jim hesitated for a moment before sitting as well. Johnson clasped his hands together on the desk-top and leaned forwards, pushing some papers out of the way. "Who was the last hunter you hired, anyway? I bet he didn't like you."

"Uh..." Jim trailed off, his eyes roving over his messy desktop. "Let me check..."

High Commander Johnson eyed the mess of papers with obvious distaste as Jim ruffled through them in his search for the computer buried somewhere underneath them. A few papers stained with wine fluttered to the floor.

"You're a messy man, Jim."

"Yes, sir," replied Jim automatically, pointedly ignoring his superior in his attempt to find the blasted computer. A rather large pile of paper fell to the floor with a surprised flutter and Jim ignored them. High Commander Johnson was beginning to grow impatient. He began drumming his fingers on the desktop, not caring how much the repetitive sound was stressing out Jim.

"Well?" he pressed. Another stack of disorganized paper fell, revealing at long last the computer underneath. Jim brightened and instantly accessed it, quickly bringing up the names of all the hunters he had hired in the past few months. His eyes roved the list before settling on one in particular, the last hunter he had hired. That had been more than three months ago.

"It's…Tejed Jenal, sir."

Johnson perked up at the name.

"…Say again?"

"Uh…His name is Tejed Jenal, sir," replied Jim, once again finding himself trying to read information that had never been entered. "Last hunter I hired. His name was all he gave me, but I could see that he wasn't human."

The High Commander scowled and abruptly stood, Jim following suit.

"…That's another reason I don't like you, Jim. You're stupid," Johnson spat. Jim winced at the harsh words but didn't say anything. High Commander Johnson thought for a moment, rubbing his temples tiredly with his fingers. "You hired TransFuse."

Jim was silent.

"...T-Transfuse, sir?" he asked quietly, gaping. "Not the same TransFu--"

"The same TransFuse," cut in Johnson. "The same illegal experiment we've been trying to find for months, now. What's wrong with you, Jim? An escaped Space Pirate monstrosity comes in, asks for a job, and you give it to her?"

"Her?!" Jim exclaimed, no longer able to stay polite in front of his superior. "By all means, sir, _it_ was wearing a clunky old suit and looked just like any other back-world bounty hunter looking for a job! And how in hell's name do you know who it is, anyway?!"

"Because I funded the project, of course," answered Johnson calmly, already formulating a plan. If only he had hassled Jim earlier he might already have caught the damn rouge experiment already and shipped it back to the pirates for refinement. Then he wouldn't be in this mess with a man he simply did not like. Jim was gaping like a fish out of water, the sudden information startling. Still surprised he took his seat again.

"…Why'd you come here…?" he asked quietly, still shocked. The High Commander still hadn't given a reason for his visit. Johnson snapped out of his small trance and glanced at Jim, his expression unreadable.

"I wanted to know if you found out anything new about our missing Elites," he said pleasantly, his demeanour having not changed despite his now serious mood. "But knowing you, well, you probably did diddly squat since I last saw you." Jim screwed his eyes shut and groaned.

"Well, sir…" he started tentatively. "I did find out…Something…" Johnson's eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"It's about…Omega Phoenix, sir…"

"…What about him…?"

"He's…He's currently going by the alias of Gin Phoenix, sir. And he's somewhere in the city." He deigned to tell his superior that he had _also_ hired Gin months before the hybrid, the reality too much for him to bear. Slowly, though, Johnson smiled, and let out a sardonic little chuckle.

"Gin Phoenix?" he parroted, amused. Jim looked up at him, feeling very miserable about himself. "You mean the same Gin Phoenix who came to me a week after being hired only to complain about you?" At that Jim sunk into his chair, mortified, and the High Commander's jovial attitude finally fell. "Another reason why you're stupid, Jim. You hired your _own ex-super soldier."_ He let the words sink in for a moment, enjoying the misery he was inflicting upon Jim. He did not like that man.

"Well, nice talking to you, Mr. Shaw," said the High Commander pleasantly, his mind made up. He turned to leave.

"Wait!" called Jim. Johnson turned to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me any of this? We could have captured it already!"

"Because I don't like you," replied Johnson happily. Jim sunk a little into his seat, defeated. Johnson turned to leave again before another thought struck him and he turned a last time back to his subordinate.

"And another thing, Jim."

He looked weakly up at the High Commander and said, "Yes, sir?"

"Tejed is a female."

Without another word he finally turned and left. The heavy doors banged shut behind him and Jim let out a loud groan before sliding forwards onto his desk, his hands clutched around his head. This was all too much. Miserably he straightened again and pulled out one of his drawers, his fingers tightening around the smooth glass of an all too familiar bottle.

"Tejed is a female," he muttered bitterly, sucking on the open end of the bottle. "That ugly monster is a _woman_." He leaned forwards again, content to get drunk and fall asleep right then and there. Anything to get his mind off this new TransFuse specific information. It was too late for that crap, anyway.

"_Incoming call. Incoming call." _

The shrill buzz of his comm. jerked him from his misery and quickly he answered the call, almost tipping over his bottle of wine in the process. Swiftly he caught the agitated bottle before it stained his carpet again and turned to the viewscreen set into his desk.

"What the hell do you want?" he snapped, tired. It was a mere spy, nobody terribly important. He could easily take his irritation out on him.

"It's about Vaughn, sir. Vaughn Masters."

Instantly Jim found his feet. The insult with TransFuse was one thing, but anything regarding EPSiLoN was his business and his business only.

"Where," he demanded, voice low and cold and full of focus.

"In a bar, sir." Jim was silent for a moment.

"Why is it always a bar?" he mused. "Did you send anyone after him?" The spy quickly shook his head and Jim blew up.

"WHY _NOT_?!" he shouted, face slowly turning the same shade as his precious wine. "That's OMEGA PHOENIX, you dolt! Send an entire platoon after him! WE NEED HIM BACK!!" He brought his clenched fist down on the table for emphasis, disturbing the wine he had gone through lengths to save. It remained standing. The soldier nodded, terrified, and terminated his side of the connection.

"FUCK ME!!" yelled Jim, bringing his hands down on the table again. The bottle of wine finally decided that enough was enough and fell from the table, spilling all over the carpet. Fuming Jim stormed out of the office. He had some scientists to talk to about speeding up Physeter production. The Elite program was in need of some serious soldiers.

And he was intent on getting the first and the best back.

~*~

"Where is Tejed, anyway?" inquired Vince, looking around Gin's ship.

"She's on her ship," Gin replied tiredly. "Most likely getting piss drunk." Vince nodded absently and fiddled with some buttons on a console. "You know you really hurt her feelings," said Gin, watching him from the far wall. Vince made no inclination of having heard and turned his attention to a locked window, trying to pry it open. "You don't have to insult her, she already knows she's insane."

"Fine, I won't make fun of that insane monstrosity you like so much," muttered Vince angrily, stalking out of the room, his happy mood ruined.

"And you can say sorry, you know!" yelled Gin at his retreating back. Vince rolled his eyes, his mind set on other things.

"Don't insult it?" he mocked, passing by a fortified door. Curious he stopped in front of it and inspected the terminal by its side. "I'll insult it as much as I want." Vince never was one to listen to others, regardless if that other was his brother or not. And as far as Vince was concerned Gin was wrong and he was right. Tejed was dangerous and had to be locked away.

The terminal dinged and Vince grinned as the door slid open. He was the one gifted with hacking prowess, not Gin. All Gin had was his ability to learn and retain multiple languages. And to Vince that was a useless ability. He wandered down the corridor, happy to explore and stick his nose into all the nooks and crannies on his brother's ship. Anything to keep his mind off insane hybrids and pirates. What was he hiding with this fortified door, anyway?

"Ooh, what's this?" he inquired to himself, coming to a stop at the end of the short corridor. There was a glass window at the end, covered in a sheet of thick metal and with a similar terminal by its side. Vince's eyes glinted and he instantly set to work hacking it. What could be behind the glass? A death bomb? An evil spirit? Some sort of top secret tech?

The terminal dinged in acceptance and the steel sheet slid into the wall, revealing a small alcove with a certain something inside. Vince's eyes instantly lit up at the sight of it and his heart skipped a beat.

"He kept it," he muttered, staring into the alcove. Unable to retain his joy any longer he ran from the dimly lit corridor and back to his brother, filled with so much happiness that he was amazed he could even feel it after all the torture he had undergone the past year.

"Vaughn, you crazy ass!" he screamed happily. "You KEPT IT!!"


	15. Chapter 15

_Federation log: y 2077: 12/03_

_Six of 'em. After god knows how long, I somehow managed to pick six of 'em. And god help me if the Hugh Commander was actually somewhat pleased. I think it was the inclusion of the Masters brothers that got him right tickled. Big names in a big project. He liked that. Of course, he liked the other candidates I picked, too. _

_Ah'Luna Daciana. She's Irish, I believe, maybe Norse, and a damn good hacker. She's fast and agile and with a mean streak in her. She'll make a good spy, a good espionage expert. The team needs one of them. _

_Austin Clark. Only god knows why a robot would need a last name. Maybe it was human at one point in time, maybe not. Either way that bot makes a really good field medic, and with his tough steel body he'll be hard to take down. Plus it's a good engineer, to boot. Two skills for the price of one. _

_Arthmeal Sigfried. That guy, oh god, that guy. He looks like a bloody tank, that guy. Strong as a space dragon and loyal to boot. He also has some strange affection towards explosives and huge guns. Must be a German thing… _

_And last but not least, Justin Dimitriov. There's something about that guy that I like, I mean really like. He's a good close quarter combat fighter, he knows his stuff, and he's stealthy, too. He only answers to the strongest of leaders. _

_Now comes the fun part. Decide who gets the Physeter first. I have my eyes on Vaughn. He seems strong. Either way, all the future Elites are getting their once over by our scientists during the next week, so I'll find out who's the strongest soon enough. Now I only have to worry about naming them. Elites need codenames. Maybe I'll name them after animals…Vaughn always did remind me of a phoenix. I've watched him fighting. He just does not die: gets smacked in the face and gets right back up again. _

_I think he'll be the first. Gut instinct. He'll make a fine leader…_

_Jim Shaw, Head of Bounty Hunter Relations and Official Organizer of the Elite Project_

_PS: _Still_ feels good righting that title. _

~*~

"You kept it, Vaughn! You kept it you kept it you _kept it_!!"

"Yes, Vince. I kept it."

Vince snuggled his old, old sniper rifle affectionately, in a state of momentary bliss. Its cold steel felt wonderfully familiar against his skin and he briefly wondered how he had managed to function without it. Sasha was his baby, his friend, and he loved that gun to death.

"Sasha," he cooed, still snuggling the rather wicked looking rifle. Gin sighed from the door to the vault he had kept his brother's gun in. He had forgotten how much Vince loved the thing. The only reason he kept it in the first place was as a reminder. After all, Gin had lived his life under the assumption his brother had been killed. And the dogtags and the rifle were the only things he had.

"Yes, Vince. It's a very nice gun," Gin started, amused by his brother's reaction. "Now get out of the vault, already. I have other things I need to hide in it." Vince didn't complain and finally left the room, his gun held lovingly in his arms.

"You kept Saaashaaa," he said, positively delighted. Gin rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Vince. I kept Sasha."

He crooned for a few more seconds over the weapon, in a state of extreme bliss, before finally inspecting the gun. His eyes roved over its sleek black surface, inspected the barrel and the body; he gently tested the trigger and the bipod. They still worked as smooth and flawless as they had when he had first got his hands on the rifle years upon years ago and he smiled. It was just as he remembered it. Except for that one flaw, on the stock. A sort of smudge…

"…Who touched Sasha?" he asked quietly, rubbing off the fingerprint. "Who touched my gun?!" At that moment Tejed sort of half stumbled into the room, leaning on the vault doorframe heavily for support. Gin looked horribly confused.

"What the hell, Tejed!" he said loudly. "Why are you always on my ship and how'd you get on this time?!"

"Magic," she stated simply, slurring slightly. "And I was getting lonely. I don't like being alone…" She sounded close to tears and stumbled slightly, the bottle of Rigelian Screech held tightly in her claw almost empty.

"…What about the pirates?" inquired Gin, curious as to what had happened to the pair of pirates that were holed away on the hybrid's ship. She waved her hand dismissively.

"I hate 'em," she muttered. "Always scurrying around my ship. And I wanted _human_ comfort…" Vince was still fawning over his gun, wiping off scuff marks and fingerprints in an attempt to make it flawless again. He was miffed that his gun had been touched, but the happiness at finding it again overrode that. Tejed quickly downed the rest of the bottle and snickered unpleasantly.

"Why'd'ya name yerself _Gin_, anyway?" she inquired suddenly, her words running together. She pointed the empty bottle at him. "It sounds like an alcoholic beverage, like gin. Never had any gin before…"

"No, Tejed, it's _Gin_, with a hard 'G', not _gin_."

"It's still a stupid name," she mumbled, sliding down the wall until she was sitting. "I'ma call you Jin from now on. I don't like the hard 'G', it's like talking into a brick wall. You're just talking talking talking when suddenly your words _stop_. But _Jin_, it flows, like a fish through bread…" Gin decided not to decipher what she was trying to say and shook his head. He had never seen her this drunk before.

"Just…Just call me by my name, okay?" he said tiredly. She sighed and looked up at him, woozy and exhausted. Vince continued the clean his gun, ignoring them both.

"So I can call you Vaughn…?" she asked quietly, smiling a lopsided smile.

"My name's not Vaughn, anymore," he retorted angrily. "It's Gin." Her smile faded.

"But I like Vaughn," she whispered. "It reminds me of my old life…" She started crying as Vince finished buffering his gun. He glared up at her, not caring that she was currently feeling miserable.

"Hey, freak!" he called. She looked up and Gin gave him a dirty look. "You know who touched my gun?!" He pointed at the sleek weapon and Tejed staggered to her feet.

"That was me," she muttered, still holding the empty bottle. "I asked Vaughn if I could touch it and he said yes." Vince looked absolutely livid and glared at his brother. "It's a beautiful weapon, though," the hybrid continued, leaning against the doorframe. "Nice and straight, good accuracy. Mathematically perfect. I envy you for having it." He stared at her for a moment, Sasha hugged close to his chest.

"I don't believe you," he said quickly, referring to her compliment. She just shrugged and turned away.

"A lot of people don't," she replied, already walking away. Gin just rolled his eyes at her retreating back and closed the main vault door. Vince didn't really seem to care one way or another and continued to caress his long sought after gun, simply happy that it was back in his possession where it rightfully belonged.

"You and that gun," muttered Gin, smiling. He was happy that his brother was happy, it was as simple as that.

"Gin, hey." Gin turned towards the spoken name. It was Samus. She looked somewhat troubled. He cocked an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "How did Tejed get in here?" she inquired, glancing down the hallway. "She should have alerted the security systems but she didn't." Gin just shrugged, though it did bother him, too, and closed the vault for good.

"Magic, apparently," he stated, punching in a new code. Vince looked up from his gun at Samus' voice and decided the gun was clean enough.

"So who are you, anyway?" he asked suddenly, catching Samus off guard. She cocked her eyebrow at him.

"I'm Samus," she stated. Turning back to Gin. She had already half opened her mouth to ask him something when Vince chimed in again.

"_The_ Samus?" he inquired. He sounded reverent. "Samus _Aran_?"

"Yes, that is my name," she said with a sigh. She had pressing questions to ask Gin.

"Vaughn, you crazy ass!" yelled Vince, giddy with excitement. He groaned and finished locking up the vault.

"I told you, Vince. My name is--"

"How'd you manage to get together with the great Samus Aran?!" he interrupted, amazed. "She's only the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy, for god's sake! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Neither did I, apparently," he muttered. Quickly Vince draped his arm across his brother's shoulders and leaned in close.

"So how is she?" he whispered. Samus rolled her eyes at Vince's childish questions.

"I don't…Follow," said Gin slowly, dreading where the question would lead.

"You know," whispered Vince conspiratorially. "How is she…In bed…?"

"God damn it, Vince!" he yelled, pushing him away. He glanced over at Samus. She was blushing. Slightly annoyed he turned back to his grinning brother. "Why don't you go annoy Tejed or something," he supplied. Anything to get him away from here.

"I don't like her though," he replied, his expression souring. "She's too insane, it's not as fun."

"Fine," conceded Gin, starting down the hall to his command room, Samus by his side. "Just stop asking me stupid questions, please." Hesitantly he glanced sideways at Samus. She was no longer blushing but she was looking straight ahead, avoiding his eyes. And Vince looked absolutely delighted that he had gotten his brother so flustered. It seemed as though a year in pirate confinement had not dulled Vince's obnoxious nature in the least, and while the two were very close it had to stop somewhere.

"I could always play some tricks on her," mused Vince, walking behind the two. "Hey, Gin. Know what makes her tick?"

"She…she likes candy," replied Gin tiredly. Anything to get him off his back.

"Candy, eh?" he replied, already formulating a plan. "Vaughn, do you have--"

"My name is _Gin_," he said quickly.

"..Gin," he replied with emphasis. "Do you have any boxes?" Gin looked at him, his expression unreadable.

"…Why do you need boxes?" he asked slowly, unsure if he wanted to know the answer. Vince shrugged absently and grinned.

"No reason," he replied jovially. Gin sighed heavily and turned back ahead. That's what he liked about Vince. He would never change. And that's also what bothered him the most. He would _never_ change. Vince would be an obnoxious playboy forever. With a tired sigh he entered his command room, relieved that he would finally get some peace. No dice there. Tejed was leaning against his command chair with that same bottle of ridiculously potent alcohol, muttering to herself and shaking her fist at the ceiling.

"Tejed, what are you doing?" Gin asked with a sigh. There were too many people on his ship to keep track of and it was starting to bother him. She stopped waving her fist at the ceiling and glared at him like he wasn't there.

"I'm getting drunk, what the hell does it look like?" she snapped, worming her long tongue into the bottle in an effort to get at the last little drop of alcohol at the very bottom. Apparently it hadn't occurred to her to simply tip the bottle up and wait for it to slide down. No. That would've been too simple.

"…The bottle's empty."

"…Fuck you, Gin. Fuck you," she spat, retracting her tongue and waving the bottle at him. "And you know what else?" Slowly he shook his head.

"No, what?"

"You're all _fucked_ and overrated and I think I'm gonna be sick," she slurred, glaring woozily at Gin. She pointed a shaking claw at him and stumbled backwards a view feet. "And it's _all your fault_." Abruptly she staggered backwards into Gin's command chair and fell heavily into it, instantly falling asleep. Gin looked like he had just been slapped across the face, whereas Vince was trying his very best not to burst into laughter. Dejet just shook her head at Tejed and approached her, wormed the half empty bottle of ridiculously potent alcohol out of her clawed hand.

"Rigelian Screech," she commented quietly, reading the label. Tejed's disconcertingly gentle snores reached her ears and she glanced up at her. Already a thin line of drool was snaking its way out of the corner of her mouth, collecting ever so slowly in a gobbet that would no doubt dry into a sticky mess. Dejet sighed and handed Vince the bottle. "One glass is enough to knock a man out for days. And it's her sixth bottle."

One of the hybrid's mechanical toes twitched but she didn't wake up. She'd probably be out for a long while, lost in her subconscious. Must have been nice. Without another word Dejet turned and made to leave, Vince close behind. Gin was distraught.

"But she's on my command chair!" he cried. "I can't pilot my ship if she's passed out on my command chair!"

"That's your problem, Vaughn," said Vince smugly, an arm around Dejet's shoulders.

"But you have to help me move her!" he pressed. "She weighs a god damn tonne!"

"That's _your_ _problem_, Vaughn," repeated Vince, even more smugly than before.

"I thought I told you my name is Gin," he snapped, growing irritated with the situation. He grabbed one of Tejed's legs and gave it a good yank, determined to pull her off his command chair. She stayed put, still snoring and out like a light. One of her steel tendons twanged noisily and he pulled back, afraid he had snapped something crucial. He hadn't and she continued to sleep, oblivious. He sighed, frustrated.

"Come on, Gin," said Samus quietly, a hand on his arm. He turned to her and looked past; the room was empty. She gave his arm a gentle pull and motioned towards the door. "Let her sleep. Let's go to the other room." He glanced back at her one last time before sighing again and agreeing, letting the Hunter pull him from the command room and down the hall a ways to another room, a small living room with a few chairs and a bookshelf to one side. Vince and Dejet were already there, sitting beside each other as per usual. Hackbot was sitting by a window entertaining Sarah. Off his rocker or not, the robot made a damn good babysitter, and Sarah loved him too. Gin smiled at them and took a seat by the bookshelf while Samus was content to stand near the entry with her arms across her chest.

"How's you arm, Dejet?" asked Gin, breaking the silence. She shrugged and absently rubbed the new bandages.

"It's healing fine," she said, glancing up at Samus. Earlier the Hunter had come to her with a request: ask Gin about the Elite project. Samus would have asked herself but she felt she had pestered Gin enough already and didn't want to bother him anymore. And, heck. Dejet had been his personal doctor during that time so who better to ask? Plus, she was kind of curious, herself.

"Gin, I--"

"So what's it like being parents?" Vince cut in. He hadn't been paying attention to anything in particular so he was oblivious to cutting Dejet off. She closed her mouth and sighed, slightly irritated. Samus instantly blushed and half turned away. She wasn't used to these types of questions and that bothered her.

"Why do you want to know, Vince?" asked Gin tiredly. Vince shrugged and nuzzled closer to Dejet, smiling slightly.

"Just curious," he replied. Dejet sighed. If she couldn't ask one question she might as well ask another, more personal one, one that had been bothering ever since she escaped from that damn frigate.

"Do you like me, Vince?" she asked suddenly, the question begging to be asked. It caught him off guard and he gaped for a few moments.

"Who, what?! Nooo!" he exclaimed, flustered. "Of course not! What ever gave you that silly, totally _unfounded_ idea?! Me? Like you? What the hell, that's preposterous! What?! No! Are you on drugs? I think you've been doing your own drugs, Dejet. Don't do drugs, okay?"

"…But we were stuck on a pirate frigate for a year together," she said softly, slightly hurt by his denial.

"That doesn't mean anything!" he said quickly, standing abruptly. Sarah stopped playing with Hackbot and turned to look at him, perplexed. Despite his outright objection he was blushing and looked unsure of himself. Dejet frowned.

"…Doesn't it…?" she whispered. Vince quickly shook his head as Dejet stood uncertainly, and with a tentative look at Vince left the room. Abruptly his blush and his bewilderment faded and he leaned back into his chair, once again happy.

"Are you alright, Vince?" asked Gin cautiously. Behind him Sarah decided she had enough with Hackbot and ran over to Samus, happily wrapping herself around the Hunter's leg. Vince waved a hand dismissively in the air.

"I'm fiiine," he replied, brushing it off. Samus picked up Sarah and propped her on her shoulder. The young girl looked curiously at Vince.

"Mommy, why did uncle Vince yell at his girlfriend?" she asked innocently.

"She's not my girlfriend!" cried Vince, once again blushing.

"Mr. High and Mighty Vincent Masters, always trying to get with all the girls?" questioned Gin slyly. "And the moment someone likes him he instantly says no?" Vince was silent for a moment and Gin chuckled. "You like her, don't you?"

"No!" he exclaimed, his actions becoming fidgety. Gin cocked an eyebrow.

"If you like her why don't you tell her?" Silence again.

"Because I don't like her!" he cried, quickly standing and leaving the room in a huff. Sarah giggled in Samus' arms.

"Uncle Vince is funny," she said. Gin smiled and stood as well, ruffled her hair.

"Yes he is, Sarah. Yes he is."

~*~

The black sand of the beach crunched underfoot as she slowly walked its length, staring out at the ocean. Happiness. The first real happiness Tejed had experience in far, far too long. The warm sun on her face was invigorating and managed to make her forget all the hardships she was forced to endure. It was enough to make her want to snuggle up against a nearby tree and fall asleep to the sound of rhythmic waves with nothing but the light from the three moons suspended serenely overhead lighting her way.

"Happiness," she muttered, smiling. The waves stopped and the ocean receded. Confused she slowed to a stop as well and looked out at the ocean. It was steadily moving away, revealing a large patch of land that was once underwater. Strange creatures flopped in the wet sand, just as confused as the hybrid. A dull, bass rumbling reached her ears and she cocked her head to the side, curious and vaguely frightened by this turn of events.

The ocean was returning, only this time as a wall of salty water and snapping sea monsters.

"Oh shit," she muttered, taking a step back before breaking out in a full on run.

"_Over here…"_ came a curiously whispered voice. Despite her better judgement she angled towards it. Anything to give her respite from the deadly onrush, anything. But shortly after she hated herself for listening. She came to a stop in front of a wall, a cliffside that went up as far as the eyes could see. Over here the sunshine was gone, in its place a dark blue sky studded with galaxies and mist. Breathing heavily she turned back to the tidal wave and braced for the inevitable death.

A pair of dark, tattered curtains were hastily closed, cut out the warm sunshine and the rapidly advancing wall of ocean. It hit the flimsy curtains but despite their frailty they held strong. Tejed felt a cold shiver run down her spine and tried to back up, terrified, only to come up against the cliffside.

"_Exit light…" _

A deep bass rumbled and the hybrid turned. The cliff was gone. In its place a deep, dark crevasse had opened up, its bottom so black that the blackness itself had a texture, a personality, and it was evil.

"_Enter night…" _

A cold snicker cut sardonically at her mind and without stopping to think the hybrid turned and started to run towards the curtains and the life giving sun they were keeping hidden from her. Nevermind the ocean, she just wanted the sun, the light.

"_Take my hand…" _

Something roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the crevasse. She screamed and tried to claw it off but it was just as incorporeal as the darkness. Her claws, though sharp and lethal, merely cut through it like water, only to have it reform and continue to drag her towards the widening trench. Terrified she started crying, still struggling against her captor.

"_Hush, little baby, don't say a word…"_ the darkness crooned, its voice like far-off thunder rolling across a desolate plain. Something shrieked in the darkness and she could just make out a cry for help. It was instantly silenced. _"And never mind that noise you heard…"_

Tejed resisted at the edge of the crevasse, her feet knocking loose some skree, sending it tumbling into the inky black void far, far below. She did not hear it hit bottom and with a feeling of deep dread realized the trench was bottomless, went on in darkness for eternity.

"_It's just the beast under your bed…" _

Something huge and evil loomed out of the crevasse and grabbed her with its claws, sneering at her with a face just like hers. Its mouth was like a broken puzzle the way its snaggled teeth fit together and it did not move as it spoke.

"_In your closet, in you head!" _

With that it hugged her close and sunk down into the darkness with her, crooning sweet nothings into her ear as the shadows swirled closer and closer. Tejed was reduced to a sobbing mess as the gloom slunk in closer.

"What the fuck are you?" she whispered harshly, still struggling to escape.

"_I'm you, silly little thing,"_ it retorted. It sounded different, almost familiar. Like something she heard on a daily basis anymore. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened.

"You're…The voice…Aren't you…?" Its grin widened and without warning it threw her into the crevasse wall, her already ravaged spine cracking loudly. It held her there and pushed its face into hers. Its breath was rank and sour, just like hers.

"_You keep this up, Ms. Jenal, and you're going to have to sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight with feverish intensity,"_ it hissed gleefully. Its claws started digging into her skin as its grip tightened. _"Life isn't all sunshine and happiness. Like it or not, you're going to have to let me out again, and when you do…" _

Abruptly it let go and didn't bother to catch her again. Tejed had been right. The swirling depths of gloomy murk did not have an end and as she fell claws emerged from the darkness and grabbed at her, scratched and snatched at her, all along whispering death threats and sadistic thoughts that she recognized as her own.

"Why do you insist on torturing me?" the hybrid sobbed softly, the light from above growing steadily dimmer. She felt her hope slipping away.

"_Because I _love_ you,"_ it replied sadly. And without warning everything went black.

The hybrid awoke with a start, her skin clammy with perspiration and a persistent buzzing in her ears that made her wince in pain. Quickly she brought her hands to her ears in an effort to block out the painfully high pitched sound, oblivious to the voice laughing at her. It didn't work.

"What the fuck is that noise?" she hissed, looking around. She was still in Gin's command chair from when she passed out earlier but the room was empty. For a second the noise stopped and she tenderly brought her hands away, only for it to start up again even louder. Cursing she unsteadily found her feet and half walked half stumbled towards the door, intent on silencing the sound. It grew in pitch as she exited the room and she had to stop, the noise threatening to send her over the edge before it stopped for another few precious seconds. In that lull she heard human voices and diligently followed them.

"_Sounds like a whistle,"_ commented the voice with a laugh. It grew in pitch and Tejed stumbled, her hands clutched around her ears. The voice was still laughing and didn't seem phased by the noise.

"Sounds like shut the fuck up to me," she snapped. On top of the painful sound she also had a pounding headache and felt, more or less, like shit. It was the alcohol. She was severely hungover and she did not like it.

"_I thought I told you that wasn't in my vocabulary…" _

"Whatever," Tejed muttered, stumbling into a nearby room where the sound seemed to originate. Silence greeted her; the sound had stopped. She took her hands off her ears and glared at the inhabitants therein.

"Tejed, you're awake," remarked Gin casually, Sarah on his lap playing happily with something. Tejed snorted and glared at Vince, who was also there. He looked away but she saw the disdain on his face.

"Something woke me up," she stated simply. The noise didn't start again and she gently shook her head. "I…I don't know what it was."

"Maybe it was that blasted voice," muttered Vince, looking back at her.

"Maybe it was your ugly face," she retorted, not caring how childish the insult sounded. Gin rolled his eyes. "Maybe I was having some sort of hideous nightmare and I saw your face and in a moment of blind panic I woke up. Sound about right?" He didn't answer and with a tired sigh the hybrid slumped down into a nearby chair and closed her eyes, the headache worsening and the nightmare still fresh in her mind. Sarah didn't seem to notice Tejed's misery and tugged on Gin's arm in an effort to get his attention.

"Daddy," she whispered, having slipped into a more comfortable term for him. "Daddy, my whistle's broken." She showed him the sleek silver whistle and gently he took it.

"Where'd you find this?" he asked quietly.

"Funny robot gave it to me," she said proudly. "But it doesn't work, see?" She took the whistle back and gave a good blow. No sound came out, but Tejed instantly gripped her ears and uttered something in rough Zebesian.

"There's that fucking sound again!" she cried, doubling over in pain. Vince guffawed and snatched the whistle from Sarah, wherein he started to use it against the hybrid, her pain amusing to him. The sound pierced through Tejed's head and made the headache worse than it already was. She started crying, the pain was so intense. Sarah just giggled at her, causing the hybrid to shoot her a glare.

"What the bloody fuck are you laughing at?!" she accused. Gin instantly smacked her upside the head, making a point to use his mechanical hand, immediately worsening the pain, before snatching the whistle from his brother. Hurt, both physically and emotionally, Tejed glowered balefully at Gin, her hands still covering her ears.

"What the hell was that for?" she muttered, rubbing her head. Unnoticed a thing line of blood trickled from one of her ears and hissed softly against the leather chair.

"Don't yell at Sarah," he said lowly. She was silent for a moment. Vince tried to get the whistle back but Gin pulled it away.

"…You're getting awfully fucking protective over her," the hybrid said quietly, removing her hands from her ears. He smacked her again, this time harder. Vince snickered but instantly stopped when she shot him a glare, as well.

"And don't swear in front of her, either." She muttered angrily to herself, resisting the urge to curse violently at him for hitting her.

"You treat her like your own daughter," she said after a moment, clenching her teeth as she pushed away the tide of cold anger that was threatening to engulf her. Gin smacking her was a blow to her pride but she could not hurt him. The voice was not happy that she couldn't swear.

"I'm her foster father, what'd'you expect?" he replied with a sigh. The dull ringing in Tejed's ears faded and with a sigh she got up.

"I'm leaving," she stated simply, stumbling as she left. In that moment of inattentiveness Vince whipped forwards and grabbed the whistle, quickly pocketing it along with the shard of mirror he still had. When Gin glared at him he just shrugged and left, the whistle clinking pleasantly against the mirror in his pocket.

~*~

Tejed snickered quietly to herself as she walked down the hall, the voice in her head being exceptionally quiet. It was the alcohol; there must have been a delayed reaction, for even though the voice had been sober a few hours ago, now it was fast asleep. It was half paying attention to her surroundings and made no inclination of listening in on her thoughts. Perfect. It was time for some serious payback.

"Hey. Hey, voice," she said quietly. No response. She smiled wickedly. She tried again, louder. A sort of half gurgled sigh. "Hey, _VOICE_!"

"…_wha…? Who…What? What the fuck do you want…?" _ It was awake but sounded strangely off, its words melting together and its voice sounding groggy.

"Were you asleep?" she asked slyly, still walking.

"_I was until you _yelled_ at me, you insane freak…" _

Without warning Tejed stopped dead, pretended she had walked into something despite the fact the hallway was empty. The voice cocked an imaginary eyebrow, confused and still drunk.

"_Wha was tha…?"_ it asked, perplexed.

"Just an invisible wall," replied Tejed, resuming her unhurried walk. "They're everywhere on Gin's ship. You have to watch out for them."

"_Invisible…Walls…?"_ it inquired, sounding vaguely uneasy. Tejed nodded and walked into another one, this time letting out a small cry of pain.

"They're everywhere!" she exclaimed, rubbing her nose as if it were sore.

"_Go the other way, then…!"_ prompted the voice. It had fallen for her bait. "_Turn around! It's a mine field!"_ Tejed did as she was told and walked into another one, before finding another to her side and yet another to her other side. She grinned and shrugged in defeat, playing the innocent card.

"They've surrounded us. We're trapped."

"_Wait, what?! Trapped in what…?!" _

"Invisible box, of course. They snuck up when we weren't looking. Pay more attention, voice. What's wrong with you?" It started hyperventilating at the back of her mind, confused and terrified. Carefully Tejed brought her hand up and held it against one of the nonexistent wall, pretended to push on it. It did not budge.

"_Holy shit we're trapped!"_ yelled the voice franticly, clawing at her mind in an attempt to wrest control and tear out of the invisible box that did not exist. Tejed merely chuckled, amused. It had bought it hook, line and sinker.

"I don't think we're strong enough to escape," she said conspiratorially, knocked on an invisible wall. The voice calmed and was silent for a moment.

"_Why…?" _

"Invisible steel, of course. Industrial grade. Our claws _just_ might be enough to break through, but I'm not so sure…" She trailed off and let the words sink in. No response. She tapped on the box wall for emphasis, imagining a ringing noise as she did so. Suddenly, and abruptly enough to make her stagger, the voice grabbed at her mind in a frantic effort to get out of the box.

"We have to get out! We have to get out! _We have to get out!"_ it yelled, loud enough that Tejed found herself saying it instead of just hearing it. Confused she backed away from the invisible wall, baffled as to why she had said that. It hadn't seemed to notice the effect it had on her and continued to blather, convinced that it was stuck in an invisible box.

"_Stuck in a box!"_ it cried, back in her head where it belonged again. _"Need to get out of the box! Stuck in here, need to escape. Getting claustrophobic…" _Tejed shook her head; the voice continued crying miserably.

"Still in a box…" she muttered, walking forwards. She walked into the invisible wall of her own creation and promptly staggered backwards, her nose sore. She glared forwards. Nothing. So she tried again. Still an invisible barricade, something she could not cross. She started breathing hard and put her hands up to the wall. They touched something solid even though there was nothing there.

"What the fuck…?" she whispered. The voice was still frantic.

"_The box is getting smaller! Oh god, it's getting smaller!" _

"It's not getting smaller, shut up!" she snapped, suddenly angry. "It doesn't even exist!"

"_If you made it up then why can't you leave?!"_ She pushed against the invisible wall but it did not move. Suddenly she was just as frantic as the voice.

"I don't know!" she yelled. She distinctly remembered making up the walls in an effort to get back at the drunken voice, give it a piece of its own medicine. Unless Gin really _did_ have imaginary walls scattered all over his ship, then this should not be happening. By all means the hallway was completely and utterly empty. Except for the now confused Tejed trapped in a nonexistent box.

"Why can't I escape?!" she yelled, scratching at the walls. They resonated hollow, metallic twangs from her claws and she started crying, terrified. "This isn't supposed to be _real_!"

"…What the hell are you doing?"

It was Gin, watching her struggle with her fictional walls from the end of the hallway. She stopped her fevered scratching and turned towards him, her rational mentality long since lost and her mind filled with irrational fear.

"We're stuck in a box!" yelled the voice loudly, once again causing her to say it, as well. "God, Mr. Masters! Get us out of the box!" He cocked an eyebrow and slowly approached her.

"Mr…Masters…?" he inquired, curious as to her sudden change in speech. She hissed lowly and clutched at her head.

"G-Gin…Gin, I'm stuck," she replied shakily, looking back up, her eyes bloodshot and crazed. He chuckled, morbidly amused despite the obvious seriousness of the situation, and walked around her and her fictional box.

"You're still drunk, is what you are," he retorted, coming to a stop in front of her again.

"I'm also delightfully insane, now get me out of this box," she retorted lowly. Gin sighed.

"There is no box, Tejed. You're not confined to anything."

"But I can _feel_ it," she whispered feverishly, scratching at the walls. "They're right _here_." Gin sighed again and reached through the fictional wall of the box, gently grabbed her arm.

"There's no box, Tejed," he repeated, gently pulling her forwards. She hesitated for a moment, sure she would crash into that invisible barrier again, only to walk right through it, as if it were never there to begin with. Without warning the voice stopped yelling bloody murder and became silent, just as perplexed as she was. Confused she turned and put a hand out. It encountered no resistance.

"But they were…Right there…" she muttered, bewildered. Her brows furrowed and she shook her head. "I…Touched them…"

"The hallway's empty," said Gin softly, still holding her arm. The simple act of a human touch kept her grounded in reality and slowly the irrational fear left, but not before grabbing futilely at her mind in a last ditch effort to instil her with terror. The result: spastic shivering, before that too died and she was once again thinking semi-rationally. Gently Gin tugged on her arm, directed her down the hallway.

"Come on, Tejed," he said quietly. "You look tired. Get some sleep."

"I always look tired," she mumbled, looking back at the empty hallway, still vaguely perplexed as to why the walls had become real, at least to her. Absently she ran a hand over her scars. "It's the way my face is constructed…" Gin nodded slowly and gently pulled her arm.

"Get some sleep anyway," he prodded. "You're still drunk."

"I was out for six hours!" she exclaimed suddenly, yanking her arm back. Her confusion had swung into anger and she wasn't taking orders from anyone, especially Gin. "I'll go to sleep when I'm actually tired!" Without waiting for him to answer she turned and stalked away, only to walk into another invisible wall.

"_They're back!"_ yelled the voice frantically.

"Holy shit, they are!" she screamed, turning back to Gin only to walk into another. He facepalmed and approached her.

"Tejed, I told you they aren't real," he started, reaching out to grab her arm. His hand collided with something invisible and he quickly pulled his arm back, confused.

"I told you!" she yelled, switching to Zebesian halfway through. "The walls are real!" She walked backwards into the back wall and curled up on the floor, downright terrified. Curious, gin ran his hand over the invisible wall and looked around the corridor, his eyes landing on two pairs of glowing generators where the walls came into being. He chuckled and approached a panel inset into the real wall.

"Calm down, Tejed! They're just forcefields!" he said jovially, punching in a code into the small console he had revealed. The generators faded and the invisible walls disappeared. Confused, Tejed put out a hand and encountered no resistance.

"Force…Fields…?" she parroted, slowly standing. Gin nodded.

"Forcefields. I have them as a security precaution. Don't know why they activated, though. Must be a malfunction."

"Forcefields…" the hybrid said again, trembling slightly. Once again the voice had calmed down, but Tejed hadn't. She was still terrified she'd walk straight into another hallucination. And if she was by herself when she did, there was a chance it wouldn't fade.

"Where's your sister?" asked Gin suddenly, catching her off guard. She stumbled, surprised by the question.

"I have no idea," she replied. Gin facepalmed again and sighed, and despite being drunk Tejed somehow managed to put two and two together. And she didn't come out with twenty two. "You're not saying…That _Dejet_…" Instantly the hybrid broke out into a chittered Space Pirate rant, all clicks and clacks and chattered insect screeches, interspersed with a few words of both English and German. Gin shook his head and allowed himself a small smile.

"You can speak German, too?" he asked. She stopped and glared at him.

"Of course I can," she replied haughtily, quickly switching to Zebesian so he wouldn't understand her. "What are you, stupid or something? Aussie brains don't work properly? A person who grew up in German before she moved over here can speak German?! What are the chances?"

"Quit being so sarcastic," replied Gin, gently pushing past her. "And Aussie brains work perfectly fine, thank you." She was silent for a moment.

"…Could you understand that?" she asked quietly. Smirking he turned.

"Vince has the hacking skills. I have the language skills." More silence.

"What about this?" she asked in German. He nodded. "And Space Pirate, too?" He nodded again and she shook her head, returning back to English. "You damn crazy Aussie, you. So all those times I swore at you in Space Pirate…?"

"I understood every word." For the first time in her life Tejed facepalmed and Gin walked away, happy, leaving her alone again. At least the invisible walls were gone. Sighing she leaned against the wall, wishing sorely for another bottle of that most delicious Rigelian Screech. It burned so very pleasantly on the way down and made her forget her woes.

Hackbot skipped happily past, his built in speakers emitting pleasant nature sounds. Tejed paused and stared at him, perplexed and curious. Screw the Rigelian Screech. Hackbot made her forget her woes, too. He was fun to torture. A few short seconds Sarah ran past and caught up to Hackbot. She was chuckling happily, amused by the sounds he was emitting just for her. Tejed smiled. The sight of Sarah happy always managed to lift her spirits.

"Make the other noises, funny robot!" Hackbot paused and thought for a moment.

"Which ones?" he asked playfully. Sarah stuck her lips out and thought hard before brightening.

"The crows! The crows!"

"_Wait, what did she say…?"_ asked the voice nervously. Tejed cocked her head to the side. The voice never sounded nervous unless something decidedly scary was going to happen, and crows weren't scary…right?

"Something about crows," the hybrid answered. Down the hall Hackbot fiddled with the side of his head until he found the requested sound, and in the space of a few seconds the hallway was filled with the scracking cawing of crows. And just like that the long forgotten memory came back like a speeding bullet and Tejed took off down the hallway, away from the sound. She had remembered, quite forcefully, that she had been deathly afraid of crows as a child. And evidently a year in confinement had not diminished that fear in the least.

Quickly she fled into the nearest room and wrapped her arms around the Dejet conveniently stationed there, shuddering from head to toe. The woman started, dropping the communicator she had just been reading. She was silent for a moment, shocked and confused at the sudden fright her sister was experiencing. Hardly anything scared Tejed, so anything that _did_ manage to scare her had to be pretty damn scary. Hackbot skipped past the doorway with Sarah close in tow, blasting the sound, and Tejed flinched, whimpering.

"Oh my god, Tejed," said Dejet, slowly smiling as it dawned on her. "Don't tell me that you're _still_ afraid of crows. After all the crap you've been through, you still have that stupid fear?"

"It's not stupid," she retorted quietly, still wrapped tightly around her sister. Dejet sighed and tried to pry the hybrid off of herself. No luck. Just like her drool when it dried she was stuck fast.

"You're seven feet tall and scary as hell, why are you still afraid?" Dejet asked, trying in vain to pull her sister's arms off.

"I don't know," she whispered, still shaking. Dejet managed to get her hands underneath Tejed's arms and finally pried her off. Inadvertently she brushed Tejed's face, her hand insanity getting coated with the hybrid's rather unique brand of drool. She made a face and proceeded to wipe it onto her shirt. It stayed put. Tejed was still shaking like a leaf in a storm and didn't notice.

"Oh, wonderful," commented Dejet dryly, the sticky saliva already drying into a hard spot on her shirt. Smirking she pulled the same stunt that Gin had pulled earlier with the hybrid's drooling problem, slipping into a fake Australian accent like the host of some cheesy nature show. "Tejed drool. If worse comes to worse it can be used as an industrial strength bonding agent."

Tejed stopped shaking, the fright having passed, and glared at her sister.

"That's exactly what Gin said months ago!" she accused. "You're conspiring with him, aren't you?!"

"Yes, Tejed. I'm conspiring with Gin," Dejet conceded with a sigh. Her sister's weirdness wasn't something she wanted to deal with right this very moment. She had other things that demanded her attention, things that she didn't want Tejed to know about just yet. Tejed huffed and glanced back down the hallway. Hackbot and Sarah were gone. And so was that horrible noise. Discreetly she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to her sister. She had gone back to reading the communicator.

"And I'm not scary as hell," muttered Tejed, vaguely hurt by her sister's earlier remark.

"Yes you are," replied Dejet absently without turning. She started typing something into the nearby computer. Tejed eyed her sideways.

"…I don't try to be," she retorted quietly, catching sight of Dejet's still bandaged arm. The dressings had just been changed so they were no longer stained with blood, yet her sister was still pale and tired looking. Quickly Tejed looked away from the wound she herself had inflicted, feeling nothing but dread and guilt.

"It doesn't matter whether you try or not," replied Dejet, still typing. "Hell, when you smile it looks like you're about ready to bite someone's face off. It comes naturally. You're scary, Tejed." The hybrid looked down at her feet, once again hating her mechanical legs and their vicious curved talons, and the clicking noise they made whenever she walked. She opened her mouth and closed it, took a small breath.

"I don't…_You're_ not scared of me, are you?" she asked softly, dreading the answer. Gently she took hold of the doorframe and half shied out of the room. Dejet didn't answer, but her typing stopped. She stared into the monitor, past the written words and the blinking cursor at the reflection of her mutated sister. She looked shy and scared but Dejet could still see Tejed underneath. And she could also see the shattered mentality, the broken mind, and that scared her, whether she admitted it or not.

"…I thought so," said Tejed quietly, slipping silently from the room. Dejet made no move to follow and with a sigh started typing again. In time she had the perfect gift to make Tejed feel better about herself. It just had to wait a few weeks to get started.

~*~

Saddened by her current predicament and even more despondent than before Tejed stalked quietly through Gin's ship, peeking into doors she hadn't peeked into before. All of them were empty; she was alone. And that saddened her, because anymore she absolutely hated being alone.

"_You have me…"_ said the voice slyly, having regained its sobriety.

"You don't count," retorted Tejed quietly. She felt perilously close to tears. If being alone persisted any longer she was sure she would start crying. It weighed too heavily and it was ruining her slowly dissolving happiness, and she had a sneaking suspicion that even her sister's love wouldn't dispel it if it set in. She need something more, someone more than just a sister. She needed someone to love who would love her in return.

"_What about Mr. Phoenix…?"_ asked the voice with a snicker.

"What _about_ him?" hissed Tejed, coming to a stop. It shrugged its imaginary shoulders.

"_You like him, Ms. Jenal,"_ it said shrewdly, no doubt grinning wryly. _"I can feel it, can hear it in your thoughts. Pity, though. One of these days, we'll seriously have to kill him already…"  
_

Tejed didn't say anything. They had already gone over this. Gin wasn't going to die any time soon, especially by her hands. She was having a jolly time deluding herself into believing she hated him but she was absolutely loathe to hurt him. He was simply too nice to her for that to ever happen.

"_But he's a nuisance,"_ continued the voice, wheedling away at her. _"He already betrayed us once, we can't let him do that again, especially when it hurt so much last time…" _

"Just…Shut up, already," Tejed muttered quietly with a sigh. She wasn't in the mood to argue with an imaginary voice over whether or not she still liked Gin. She was too lonely. Something faint caught her attention and she cocked her head to the side in an effort to pinpoint the noise.

"What's that…?" she whispered, turning. It was coming from behind the door she had inadvertently stopped in front, a door with a holo-screen above blinking 'Training Room' in bored red letters. Intrigued but still unbearably lonely Tejed hesitantly approached the door. It slid open with a gentle hiss and she peered in. The noises had grown louder and she could just make them out: two male voices with distinct accents. She snickered faintly; looked like she had finally found someone. Maybe she'd be less lonely if only she had someone to talk to, to spend time with.

"_It sounds like Mr. Phoenix and his bastard brother,"_ sneered the voice. It sounded decidedly displeased. Tejed ignored it and followed a flight of stairs marked 'Spectators'. This whole training room thing intrigued her, especially now that she had a chance to see how well Vince stood his ground. The voice wasn't happy, but then it never was.

"_I say we burst in and show them how to _really_ fight," _it urged._ "Show them how a real abomination of science rolls. It'll be fun…" _

"No," she snapped, hoping she'd silence it. It continued to prattle on about how much better she was than them but she managed to ignore it. She came to the top of the stairs and tenderly put an ear to the steel door there. Gin and Vince, fighting, by the sounds of it. Sparring? Training? With what? Like a curious puppy she put a hand on the handle and paused, uncertain if she should enter or not but giddy with excitement.

"Ah, fuck it," she muttered, swinging the door open. She was greeted with a wide room, a huge window inset into the far wall overlooking an equally huge arena. Tejed's ears rose a few inches and she carefully entered the room. Samus was leaning against the glass watching the room below, her feline gaze intent. She hadn't seemed to notice the hybrid enter. Inquisitive Tejed approached her and peered through the window. Sure enough the two brothers were down there sparring, Gin using a variation of the staff he had used months earlier while Vince was yielding a similar weapon. They looked like they were completely absorbed in the mock battle, going at each other with all the strength they could muster.

"What's going on?" asked Tejed quietly. Samus jumped and quickly looked at her, her hand going to her chest.

"Jesus Christ, Tejed!" she exclaimed, her heartbeat slowing back to normal. "Where'd you come from?"

"Downstairs," she replied, pointing at the open door. It vaguely bothered Samus how Tejed, a seven foot tall space pirate hybrid with decidedly wicked looking mechanical legs, could walk so quietly if she so chose to. Almost stealthily. Ignoring the disturbing thought Samus took a deep breath to steady her pounding nerves after the fright and turned back to the window.

"Gin and his brother are sparring," she explained, her nerves finally settling. Too much time being a bounty hunter made her jumpy at times, especially where Tejed was concerned, she noticed. "Vince is still weak from that year on the frigate and bothered Gin until he relented. So far, he's been doing rather well."

"Gin?"

"Vince."

"Ah," replied Tejed simply, pulling up a nearby stool to watch the action far below. It got her mind of her recent onset of almost unbearable loneliness, watching Gin and his brother spar together. Hell, it also raised her respect for him a tiny little iota. And, surprisingly, the voice's, as well.

"_He's actually skilled,"_ it commented, sounding the tiniest bit surprised. _"Just another reason to off him. He could become dangerous later on…" _

She ignored its sinister laughter and concentrated on the fight below. Gin's staff came down hard and fast only to meet up with his brother's weapon, and with a quick twist Vince deflected it and came in with an attack of his own: a low swipe at his brother's legs. Gin easily dodged it and came in from the side. Another quick deflection, only this time Vince allowed himself to pull a sort of half roll around and strike from behind. But Gin, always vigilant, saw the attack coming and with some rather fancy footwork managed to twist and block it with his steel staff. There was a momentary lull in the fight as both sides caught their breath and Tejed found herself grinning. Samus glanced over at her and smiled.

"You like that?" she inquired. Tejed didn't look away as they started up again.

"I didn't know he had a training room," she said after a brief moment, eyeing Gin's staff. It cut a neat arc through the air before hitting the ground where his brother had been mere milliseconds earlier. A cloud of yellow sparks was thrown up from the force of the impact, from steel hitting equally hard steel. They were both unharmed. Samus shook her head and smirked.

"Neither did I," she answered thoughtfully. "But you have to admit it makes for a good show. They've been going at it for…" She glanced at a nearby clock. "…About an hour, now." Tejed nodded and the fight continued without rest. She sighed, her hot breath fogging the window, and leaned forwards, still watching Gin. Absently she began to trace shapes in the fogged glass with one of her fingers, momentarily forgetting that Samus was still there. Maybe Gin could make her less lonely, she mused. Absently she smiled.

"You like him, don't you?" Startled Tejed pulled back from the window. Samus was smiling at her and glanced pointedly at the window. Horrified Tejed looked back. Without realizing it she had drawn a curled little heart into the fog, complete with tiny little curlicues and fancy little flourishes. Quickly she wiped it off and pretended like nothing had happened.

"No," she said quickly, feeling very small in the Hunter's presence.

"Oh?" inquired Samus, still gazing intently at the hybrid. She sighed and looked back at Gin still fighting. It seemed as though him and his brother were evenly matched.

"I…I did in highschool," she started softly, vaguely remembering the time she had spent shying away from him and watching him from afar. "But that…That was years ago…" Samus glanced back at the two brothers still embroiled in their match.

"It never died, did it?" Samus questioned thoughtfully, turning her attention back to Tejed. Slowly she shook her head and sighed again.

"No, it didn't," she conceded sadly. A few moments of silence. Tejed felt humiliated, here in Samus' presence. Especially when she knew Gin and Samus were currently in a relationship, and they seemed to hit it off quite well. And that's what made Tejed so unbearably lonely at times. Knowing that he and Samus had something special and she, well, she did not. Quiet, shy Tejed who had eyed him all throughout her teenage life, and she managed to get absolutely nothing out of it.

"Why do you like him?" she asked suddenly, wringing her hands together in apprehension.

"He's a good man," said Samus after a short pause. She looked back down at the arena and smiled. "His heart is in the right place." Tejed chuckled.

"Yeah, it is," she agreed quietly. If it weren't for Gin and his creepily optimistic attitude she'd probably have given into her insanity long ago and become just what the pirates wanted. She would have lost all her humanity and gone into a forever descending spiral of anger, if not for Gin and his decision to help her, despite her earlier hate. He had given her a new life, whether he knew it or not.

"He is," she repeated softly. For the briefest of seconds she seriously contemplated running down there and giving him a big hug in thanks for all he had done, only to immediately scrap it as silly and preposterous.

"And why do you like him, Ms. Jenal?" asked Samus curiously, still smiling as though she enjoyed this. Tejed thought for a moment.

"…Same reason," she said quietly. Unconsciously she had started twisted a finger in her hair. "And…" She trailed off and sort of half smiled. Samus chuckled.

"And?"

"And…" Tejed blushed and shied away, feeling like a small child talking to a parent. "…And I…I like his accent, too." At that Samus laughed, an actual laugh, not just a smile and a chuckle.

"You like his accent!" she said, still laughing. Tejed turned away, her ears falling. Samus continued laughing to herself. Big scary Tejed, and she liked his accent. What else did she like, the Hunter wondered. Slowly her laughing died and she regained her composure, looked back at Tejed. She was slumped forwards into the window again watching the fight far below and she looked miserable. Samus sighed and approached her. She laid a hand on the back of her neck.

"I wasn't laughing at you, Tejed," she said quietly. The hybrid may have unnerved Samus but she hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. Tejed muttered something but stayed in place. Grinning Samus leaned forwards and whispered in the hybrid's ear, "I like his accent, too." At that she looked away from the arena. Samus smiled at her and pulled up a stool. Tejed allowed herself a half smile.

"His voice makes me feel all happy and warm," she said quietly. "Even if…If I don't always show it…" She never showed it. Maybe it was high time she did.

"You should tell him," she said softly, ignoring Tejed's unique scent of death that seemed to follow her almost everywhere. Quickly Tejed shook her head.

"No," she said harshly. "No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I can't, I just--" The thought scared her and she put her face in her hands, still shaking her head. "I can't," she muttered. "I…I just _can't_." Samus scooted a little closer and laid a comforting arm around Tejed's shoulders in an attempt to console her.

"What if he rejects me?" she continued, distraught. "What if I tell him that I still like him and he just gives me a dirty look and never talks to me again? What if all his 'being nice' was just a…Just a facade to keep me from killing him and he really--What if he really _hates_ me?"

"You're paranoid, he doesn't hate you," soothed Samus.

"Of course I'm paranoid, I'm insane!" retorted Tejed loudly, looking back out the windows. "What if he hates me because I'm insane? What if he looks at me and instantly thinks, 'oh look, it's that insane freak again. I'll just put on my happy face and humour her until she goes away'? What if--"

"What if he still likes you as a friend?" interrupted Samus. "What if he's just as intent on helping you as he is about everyone else?" She let the words sink in and Tejed's sudden onset of light hysteria faded. "You said it yourself, Tejed. He's a good man, he just wants to help. Let him." She removed her arm and retreated back to her earlier spot against the window, still watching Tejed.

"Keeping it bottled up is going to destroy you eventually, if you don't tell him."

Tejed didn't say anything. Maybe that was why she was so lonely: not because she wanted to be with Gin, but because he didn't know how she felt and it was eating her up because she refused to tell him. Of all the things the pirates could have taken, why did they leave the shyness? Especially when it came to Gin? Sighing she watched the fight, at the same time envying and loving Gin's fighting style.

Without warning Vince parried Gin's staff to the side before throwing his brother away and quickly coming in from the side. A loud crack rang out and Gin stumbled. Tejed flinched at the sound. Vince had struck him right in the side with the staff and Gin doubled over in sudden pain, but not before Gin managed to land his staff in the crook of his brother's knees, crippling him, too. It was a draw. Samus sighed.

"Let's go," she said, already at the door. Tejed scrambled off the stool to follow, her feet clicking loudly on the polished steel floor and the grating of the stairs. Samus was already in the main arena by the time Tejed had reached the bottom stair and hastily the hybrid ran in, too, eager to get a piece of the action. She entered the room to find Samus helping the pained Gin to his feet and Vince sitting to the side, smiling and shrugging as he rubbed the backs of his legs.

"It's your fault, Vaughn," he commented playfully, twirling his staff on the floor. "You're the one who agreed."

"Yeah, I know," he retorted, brushing Samus off. He managed to stand on his own and despite his pain shot his brother a friendly smile. "Still fun, though."

"That's the spirit!" exclaimed Vince as he stood, winching slightly. He clapped him on the shoulder and hugged him close, a display of brotherly affection. Tejed stayed off to the side while they joked, suddenly feeling incredibly shy, almost like she were a young girl again. And the sight of Samus tending so lovingly to his injuries just made her loneliness all the more profound. With a sigh she leant against the doorframe and let the shadows consume her. The darkness put her at peace and she liked that. Silent, she watched Samus gently pry Gin's sparking weapon out of his sheath and trace a finger over the glowing glyphs. Gin made no move to stop her.

"I've finally deciphered them," she heard the Hunter say. Gin looked intrigued and ran a finger over them too, looked at her like an excited puppy. "It's a name," she continued, flipping the blade over. Tejed noticed that the glyphs were different on each side. Curious, Vince had sidled up beside him to see, too. Tejed leaned forwards to hear, her ears raising a small bit.

"This one says Baldur," she said, motioning to the red markings. She turned to the other side. "And this one reads 'Master of War'." For a moment Gin looked absolutely mortified at the translation, only to have Vince grab him roughly by the shoulders and give him a shake.

"You hear that, bro?!" he exclaimed, almost giddy. "It's your nickname from the Elite days! Fancy that, your sparking knife having your old nickname, eh?" He laughed good-naturedly as Gin took the blade and it. He looked troubled, and by proxy, so did Samus.

"Yeah, fancy that," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" asked Samus quietly. He looked up at her, for a moment looking dead tired, before smiling and pushing it away.

"Nothing," he said. Tejed could tell by his tone that he was lying. "Nothing at all. Now!" He turned back to Vince and held his hand out, all too intent on changing the subject. "My staff, please!" Reluctantly Vince handed over the weapon, seemingly sad to part with it, as Samus crossed her arms across her chest and glanced back at the doorway, noticing Tejed slouched over there by herself.

"Come on, Tejed! Get over here!" she yelled, bringing attention to the hybrid. Reluctantly she pulled away from the doorway and approached them, still feeling ridiculously timid and self-conscious. Mentally she blamed the voice. It just thanked her for the 'compliment'. Vince sort of half glared at her, unsure if he hated her or not after her outburst of sorrow at the bar. She didn't say anything and the awkward silence hovered like a black cloud. Sighing Samus and broke the silence.

"Tejed was admiring your…Fighting skills, Gin," she said. Tejed looked at her, horrified. "Maybe you two should have a match."

"Oh god no," said Tejed quickly, already backing away. What if she somehow hurt him by accident? She couldn't live with that, knowing she had hurt _two_ of the people she had grown to like. Samus was adamant and caught the hybrid's arm before she could take off.

"It'll be good practice," she insisted, pulling her forwards. Gin smirked at the proposition and fiddled with the staff.

"Come on, Tejed, it'll be fun," he prodded, siding with the Hunter. "Maybe you'll learn some new tricks."

"Like what?" she snapped, trying to worm her way out of Samus' grasp without hurting her, which was surprisingly quite difficult.

"Like how _not_ to be a runaway train?" supplied Vince helpfully, referring to her rather direct method of fighting. Tejed shot a glare at him and he smirked. He had decided he didn't hate her, he just disliked her. And he liked seeing her in pain. So what better way than to go up against his brother? Tejed shook her head.

"No," she said quietly. She wasn't in the mood for a fight, not when it didn't end in glorious bloodshed. "No, I--"

"What are you, afraid?" chided Vince. "Afraid the big ole' Omega Phoenix is gonna decimate ya?"

"I'm not afraid," she snapped, snarling at him. The term 'Omega Phoenix' was alien to her but the fact that Vince called her afraid rubbed her the wring way. He held up his hands in defence and shrugged, happy that his comment had got to her, bruised her pride. Angrily she looked back at Gin, only to instantly have the shyness take over again.

"How's your side?" she asked quietly, genuinely concerned with his health. She had heard that crack, it had sounded decidedly painful.

"It's fine," answered Gin with a smile. He stretched his side to demonstrate. "How's yours?" Tejed shrugged. Her ribs were still sore and stiff but it was a dull pain she could easily ignore.

"They're fine, too," she answered softly. Samus let her go and Gin readied his staff. Without a word both Vince and the Hunter left, leaving them alone. Tejed sighed and backed up a few feet. She may have been hesitant to spar with Gin but the prospect was exciting, and despite herself she sorely wanted to. She had to get that damn loneliness out of her system one way or another, and this was the perfect way to do it. Gin grinned and readied his stance, and his staff.

"I'm not holding back," he warned. Tejed glanced back at the raised spectator's room then back at Gin.

"I am," she muttered dejectedly, readying her stance as well. This is a bad idea, she thought sullenly. A very, very bad idea.

"_I have a feeling you might _not_ want to hold back," _chidedthevoice_. _

"Why?" she muttered. It shrugged again.

"_Just a feeling…" _

Nothing signaled the start of the fight save for Gin suddenly lashing out at her with his staff. Surprised by the sudden attack Tejed jumped backwards, the weapon almost smacking her upside the head. Which was exactly what it did not two seconds later. Somehow Gin managed to get behind her and smack her a good one in the back of the head. She stumbled forwards, her old headache from the hangover suddenly ten times worse. Gin paused, invigorated.

"Oh come on, Tejed!" he taunted. "I know you're faster than that!"

Without warning he came over again, this time aiming for her legs, hoping he could swipe them out from underneath her. Suddenly furious Tejed whipped around and grabbed the staff inches from her legs, snarling viciously at him. He yanked it free and jumped out of harms way, smiling.

"There, I knew it!" he called as she straightened up. She felt that old, old anger growing at the back of her mind but pushed it away, intent on staying rational for the duration of this fight. Any slip into that other mindset was bound to end up badly.

Quick as a flash Gin rushed her and sidestepped, aiming this time for the ribs he knew were still broken. Not in the mood for any more pain the hybrid ducked and attempted to grab his legs, which he of course saw coming and instead smacked her upside the head again, bringing the pain up a few notches.

"God fucking damn it!" screamed Tejed, giving into her anger. The voice squealed happily and dug into her rage, effectively making it stronger. No longer in the mood for sitting this out she charged the lithe hunter in an attempt to run him over, blinded by her fury. He easily dodged and landed a few whacks on her back.

"There's that anger again, Tejed," he warned as she turned and charged him again, eyes blazing. "Get it under control before it takes over."

"I'll let the fucking anger take over all it wants!" she screeched, swiping a claw at him. He merely dodged again and waited for her to charge him again.

"You have anger issues, learn to control it!" he urged. In response she turned and glared at him, frothing slightly at the mouth. She was shuddering, shaking spasmodically from head to toe. She was right. This had been a bad idea. Especially when there was a sadistic voice in her head that really wanted Gin dead.

"I have anger issues?" she seethed lowly. The shuddering increased and she grabbed at her head, the headache and the screaming voice too much for her to bear. "I have anger issues?! Really?! You think I have _anger_ _issues_?!!" She looked back up again, her eyes suddenly bursting into familiar flame.

"Whatever makes you think that _I have_ ANGER _ISSUES_?!!" she yelled, voice dropping an octave. Her mouth tasted like old steel and it only made her angrier.

"Oh, gee, I don't know," retorted Gin, holding his ground in the face of insanity. "Maybe it's the fact that you just entered Berserker mode in a simple training match?!" Her hands clenched into fists and she grabbed at her head again, the headache escalating into a primal throbbing at the back of her being.

"THAT MIGHT BE IT!!" she yelled, charging him again, this time intent on cleaving him into two neat little Gin shaped halves instead of just killing him. Gin just stood his ground and waited for her to reach him, the ground shuddering with each footfall. And right as she reached him, her razor sharp claws coming within millimetres of his face, he brought his staff up against her chest, and using her own momentum brought her up and over his shoulder. And by god if she didn't weight a god damned tonne, just as he had surmised. Just as quickly as she was up she hit the ground back first with a loud crack, her eyes sputtering and going out. She gasped in pain. It felt like her spine had been pushed up into her stomach.

"_Did…Did he just…_Flip_ us…?"_ inquired the voice, shocked. It took a few moments for the hybrid to regain her breath, the force of the impact having knocked the wind right out of her lungs.

"I…I think he did," she wheezed. Gin stood over her and extended his hand. She hesitated before taking it and letting him pull her up.

"And that's why you keep your anger in check," he stated, leaning on the staff. Tejed stretched, her spine popping in multiple places, and let out a sharp hiss, stumbling from a sudden stab of agony.

"Pain," she wheezed, turning towards the doorway. "So…Much…Pain…" Carefully she limped towards the exit, feeling very miserable about her failure. Each limping step brought new waves of agony to her bent back and she almost felt like collapsing right then and there. Gin quickly took up an easy pace beside her, seeing her to the door.

"And what did you learn from this?" he questioned, eyeing the blood starting to stain the back of her top.

"Pain…Not fun…" she muttered, her words strained. He cocked an eyebrow. They came to a stop in front of the exit.

"And what else?"

"Don't take on…Runaway train…Mentality," she breathed, shaking slightly. She leaned heavily against the frame to keep herself from collapsing. She was starting to see double. That wasn't good. Sighing Gin approached her back and eyed it. The blood was starting to eat through her top now, leaving smoking little holes.

"Mind if I see?" he asked cautiously, referring to her back. She just nodded shakily, her breathing coming quick and shallow. Tenderly he lifted the back of her shirt away and instantly winced. Her mechanical spine had been pushed into her back, and some of the steel vertebrae had been fractured. Blood was seeping from multiple places, running down her back and dripping onto the floor. He let the tattered piece of clothing fall back into place and gently took hold of her hand.

"Let's get you to a bed," he started, guiding her through the door as it opened with a hiss. Samus and Vince started back at the sight of him supporting Tejed's weight as he helped her to a bed. Vince snorted at the sight of her broken spine and tattered tank-top.

"I told you he'd decimate you!" he called, hoping Tejed heard. "But you didn't listen!"

Samus gave him a light smack and shook her head.

"Another time, eh?" she said quietly. "Leave it for another time, please."

Vince eyed Samus sideways and slowly brought a hand over to her in an attempt to touch her. Quickly she grabbed his arm by the wrist and gave it a good twist. He cried out in pain and quickly reclaimed his arm.

"Damnit, Vince!" yelled Gin from down the hall. He stopped and turned, Tejed still in pain around his shoulders. "Stop trying to grope Samus! What's wrong with you?!"

"She's hot!" he retorted. Samus rolled her eyes.

"She's also my girlfriend! Leave her alone!" At that Samus blushed and Tejed snickered to herself.

"Your brother's still a pervert, I see?" asked Tejed softly. Gin just rolled his eyes and nodded, annoyed already.

"You have no idea," he muttered. "Good man, but still…"

"So what does 'Master of War' mean, anyway?" she blurted, the question nagging at the back of her mind. Gin slowed to a stop and looked up at her. Apparently it was a subject he did not like talking about.

"It's an old nickname," he said finally, an edge of annoyance in his voice. "Nothing more."

"But how did you earn it?"

"…During my time in the Elite Program," he answered, his annoyance growing.

"You still didn't tell me what it means."

"It means…_something_."

"What kind of something?" He stopped and glared at her, his eyes briefly flashing red.

"The kind of something I don't like talking about," he finally answered as he started walking again. "So please, let it drop." Tejed was silent for a moment. She was curious, but she didn't want to annoy Gin. But her curiosity somehow managed to override her common sense and she found herself asking again, anyway.

"I want to know, though," she said quietly.

"No, you don't," Gin snapped. Despite her better judgement, and with the voice nagging at her in the back of her muddled mind, she opened her mouth again.

"…What does it mean?"

"My god, it's like twenty fucking questions with you!" he suddenly yelled. Tejed flinched. "Why the hell do you want to know anyway?!" She shrugged indifferently, though his sudden anger towards her made her feel close to tears. She staved them off. He swore at her. He was too nice to swear unless he was angry. And when he did that meant he was _angry_.

"Curious," she rasped quietly, hoping he didn't hear the sadness in her voice.

"You're curious about bloody everything!" he exclaimed. He started walking again and she struggled the keep his pace, her back still stiff and sore.

"…sorry for asking," she muttered dejectedly. They had reached an empty guest room and Gin abruptly let her go, still annoyed and angry that she had brought it up. She staggered without him holding her up and had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over. Without another word he left. Tejed watched his back as he left and finally let the tears out.

"I love you," she muttered dejectedly, knowing he hadn't heard, before crawling with a pained wince into the bed.

"There, I said it," she said to herself, tearing up. "I said it, god damnit. I like that bloody obnoxious Australian ass and that's the end of that." With a pained wheeze she rolled over onto her front and buried her face in her pillow.

"Then why do I still feel so horribly lonely…?"

She started crying into her pillow, not noticing nor caring when Gin came back a few short minutes later to apologize.

"Tejed, I'm sorry," he said with a sigh. She stopped crying but didn't look up. Frustrated, he drew a hand across his face and allowed himself to perch on the edge of the bed. "I didn't mean to snap at you, your questions were just starting to rub me the wrong way."

"I'm sorry for being curious," she muttered disdainfully into the pillow. Her tears had started to eat the tiniest of holes into the soft fabric and were irritating her face, signalling the rise of her phazon levels again. It was a never ending process she was starting to hate. Go into Berserker, kill some pirates, burn off the phazon, sate her bloodlust, start over again when it reinstates itself. Dejectedly she rolled onto her side and stared at Gin, trying to read his features.

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you," he replied, holding out a hand. "Friends?" She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment. Friends? Had he just said friends? Maybe there was hope, after all. Smiling slightly she accepted it.

"Yeah, sure," she said softly.

"_Ask him about the nickname, ask him about the nickname,"_ prodded the voice, poking sharply at the back of her mind. Quickly Tejed shook her head and reclaimed her hand, intent on staying somewhat happy.

"_Ask him, Ms. Jenal," _it urged, its voice growing more and more dangerous._ "Before I _make_ you…" _

"Why the fuck do you want to know?" she hissed, half turning away from Gin. He didn't say anything but stayed seated.

"_Curious…"_ it said quietly, its tone sinister. It wouldn't let up until she asked.

"Gin…" she started, feeling ashamed that she had given in. He laid a comforting hand on her arm; fleeting butterflies in her stomach.

"What's the voice whining about?" he asked softly.

"…It wants to know about that nickname, too," she whispered. Instantly Gin looked irritated.

"Why?" he snapped, repressing the sudden flare of anger.

"It's curious, as well."

"Damnit, Tejed!" he said loudly, standing. She looked up, startled. "Curiosity killed the hybrid!" She was taken aback by his sudden hostility for a moment before replying, "I'm hard to kill, Gin, you've tried, remember? Broke my neck and I'm still here." He glared at her, the anger he had been trying so hard to repress now threatening to engulf him.

"I wouldn't mind breaking your neck again," he muttered, turning towards the door. Instantly she shrunk into her bed and gently grabbed her ears, his words threatening to send her into another sobbing fit.

"I'm sorry," she rasped quietly. At that he turned, his right hand digging into the doorframe.

"If you're so god damned curious why don't you go ask Vince?" he spat. "He's been though the exact same thing, he'll tell you _everything_." She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off. "Oh, that's right," he interrupted. "You hate his guts, don't you? Well get used to him because he's my _fucking_ _brother_." Tejed stared at him, frightened but his unexpected vehemence.

"Why are you so angry?" she whispered.

"I'm not angry!" he yelled, his mechanical hand clenching into a fist against the doorframe. Tejed could here the thick metal starting to buckle against his grip and without another word he spun on his heel and stalked out of the room, away from the hybrid and her questions. He hated questions. They were always about personal things and they always made him remember the whole Jupiter incident, and that it was still his fault. Frustrated by her incessant needling he punched the wall with his right hand, leaving a dent in the smooth steel. It alleviated his anger a tiny bit.

"Why are you angry, Gin?"

"I'm not angry!" he snapped, turning. It was Samus, and she looked concerned. His anger faded and he absently rubbed his hand. "Okay, so maybe I'm a _little_ angry…" he conceded. She cocked an eyebrow and gently took hold of his hand.

"Only a little?" she inquired, inspecting the scuffed steel of his hand.

"Only a little," he replied, clenching his teeth as another wave of anger washed over him. Without thinking he snatched his hand back, one of Samus' fingers catching for a brief second in one of its joints. She flinched as a small bead of blood began to form and quickly brought her finger to her mouth in an effort to staunch to bleeding. Gin looked horrified at what he had done, regardless of the triviality.

"Oh god, Samus! I'm--"

"You need your serum, don't you?" she stated, cutting him off.

"What, no!" he said loudly, counting on his fingers. "It's only been a week! Not even! That's not enough time to…" He trailed off and facepalmed, drew his hand down his face. Samus smiled slightly. "The training with Vince," he muttered. "It must have used all my serum. We always did have a bit of a rivalry."

"I bet," said Samus simply, watching his eyes slowly fade to a dark, simmering red. "Your eyes are red, you need your serum."

"I…Probably do, don't I?" he reluctantly agreed, allowing her to drag him down the hallway to the medical bay and the Hackbot stationed in there, his thin little alarm blaring loudly as he readied the syringes. Gin sort of half glared at him as he sat on the edge of a bed, trying to ignore the robot milling about him.

"Why the hell didn't you find me?" he snapped angrily. Across from him Samus took a seat. Hackbot lined up the syringe and shrugged.

"Had to find the syringes, first," he replied seriously before jabbing the needle in. Instantly Gin flinched and the robot withdrew, his alarm fading out. He saluted at Gin and scampered off, ignoring Samus completely. Most likely off to find Sarah and keep her company. Vince had promised to look after her but he didn't really trust him all that much. Gin shook his head at his retreating back as he slid from the bed and stretched his neck.

"There is something seriously wrong with that robot," he muttered, rubbing the back of his now sore neck. Samus smiled and gently pat him on the back.

"So uh…" she trailed off and Gin sighed.

"What?" he asked. More questions. There were always more questions.

"If you're not sore over your last fight with Vince…" She trailed off again and Gin cocked an eyebrow, urged her on. "Want to have a quick spar?" she asked hopefully. "I haven't been one on one with anyone in too long." He let out an audible sigh and smiled, sure that she was going to ask something about his past.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed. Without warning Vince popped in, having overheard the last bit of what Samus had said and having taken it completely out of context.

"Take her! Take her now!" he called from the door, ready to duck out if the need arose.

"…God fucking _damn_ _it_, Vince!!" yelled Gin, his brother's antics rekindling his anger. Samus stood there, confused, having heard what he said but not quite registering it. She muttered, puzzled, "Take…Me now…?"

"There, see?!" cried Vince, amused by the havoc he was creating. "She said it!! She wants you to have s--"

"Shut up, Vince!" yelled Gin, cutting his brother off before he could say it. Beside Gin Samus shook her head, having realized what Vince was up to and despite the situation amused.

"My oh my, Gin. It seems as though that serum wasn't quite enough…" she mocked playfully, smiling at him.

"No…No…He's just an obnoxious ass," Gin replied, glaring at his brother who, without another word, quickly took off.

"…I see," said Samus quietly, smirking. Tejed dealt with being trapped on a frigate for a year by going on insane killing sprees and venting her anger. Apparently Vince dealt with it by annoying the hell out of people. And he was damn good at it, too. "So…About that sparring match?"

Samus felt sure of herself, bordering on overconfident. She had seen Gin fight in frigates and on the job, but she had never fought _him_. The first time his serum had faded and he had gone slightly insane was not a fight with her, it was a fight between him and Tejed. And even though the hybrid had lost Samus still felt superior. After all, she was the great Samus Aran. She hadn't met a human yet who could best her in the midst of battle. That would shortly change.

"And…GO!" yelled Gin, drawing his katana quickly. It sparked hungrily, its blue veins of electricity jumping across the length of the blade, snapping at Samus like they were alive. Without warning he brought the sword down in a smooth arc, aiming at the Hunter's helmet. She brought her cannon up and parried it to the side. The blade scraped on her cannon, only instead of the high pitched shriek that usually came with metal on metal there was a clear chime, almost like a musical note.

"Interesting blade you have there, Gin," Samus commented, using the staff Gin had leant her for this close range combat.

"Passed down," he explained calmly, attacking her again. "Used to be my father's, now it's mine."

"Where'd he get it?"

"He never told me."

The sword came down again, this time making a perfect parabola towards her legs. She parried it with her cannon and came in with her own attack: straight at his face with the staff. Gin was going to regret not wearing his suit, she mused. But alas it seemed as though he wouldn't. He caught the staff with his fake arm and tried to yank it from her grasp while at the same time repositioning his sword for another attack. The glyphs inset into the smooth steel wavered slightly, as if distorted in heat. Somewhat disturbed Samus grabbed it by the blade, stopping it from colliding with her head.

"Why don't you ever use your pistol, Gin?" she asked, breathing quick and evenly. She let go and jumped backwards, narrowly missing his sparking blade. He shrugged and whirled around, slicing cleanly towards her. She dodged quickly.

"Never have a reason," he replied simply. At that Samus did a rather elegant somersault through the air and landed on the other side of the arena, her cannon poised.

"Well now you do."

She started firing at him, determined that she could pin him against the far wall before he could so much as pull his pistol on her. And that was her first mistake. Being cocky. She lightened up on the fire, giving gin just enough time to draw his pistol and fire off a single burst. She smirked and dodged the incoming shot, only to get struck in the legs by two more. Perplexed she stopped and stared at him; he paused, too. His pistol was smoking, a single lazy waft of smouldering steam drifting from the tip of the nozzle. She had only heard him fire once, yet after dodging one bolt was struck twice more.

"That's one of the reasons I never use my pistol," he replied, his sleeve falling down slightly to reveal he was using his mechanical arm to fire. "I can fire off three where you only hear one."

At that Samus smiled, invigorated, and charged her cannon.

"It looks like the game just got that much more interesting," she replied, letting loose with a charged shot. Gin dodged it at the last moment, the beam shot singing his side, and fired off a few shots of his own, which, judging by the sound, meant he fired off much more than was expected. She had only heard it fire four times; in reality he had fired twelve times in rapid fire succession, his mechanical hand pulling the trigger so fast it could only register one out of every three shots fired. Without stopping to think she rolled up into her morph ball and hightailed it out of there. The pistol shots hit the ground mere millimetres from where she was, leaving smoking little craters in the concrete floor. She did a quick circuit of the room and came up behind Gin, absolutely sure that she had caught him off guard.

And that was her second mistake, which meshed neatly with her third mistake. She was under the impression that Gin did not know where she was, and she had dropped her staff, her only close range weapon. Instead she used her cannon, coming down hard and fast against his back. Quickly he whirled around and intercepted her move, using his sword as a shield. It sparked savagely against her armour but did not harm her. For the briefest of seconds, the icy blue electricity pulled the same stunt the hunter's eyes did when his serum was low: it flashed a bright, crimson red.

"Did I ever tell you that you have in interesting blade?" she asked, repeating her earlier question. The electricity faded back to blue but the blade still simmered angrily, almost like it thirsted for her blood.

"Sure did," he replied bluntly, pushing forwards against her cannon. She held her ground.

"What does 'Master of War' mean?" she inquired innocently. She and Tejed had another thing in common. They were both highly curious. At her question his katana sparked red again, only this time it stayed red.

"Nothing," he stated, clenching his teeth together as he pushed harder. Still she held strong.

"Oh, it means something," she prodded. The electricity began to dance wildly, jumping back and biting savagely against its masters clenched fingers. He ignored the pain.

"You're just like Tejed," he spat. The electricity began to snap at his face and continued to gnaw on his fingers, casting them both in saturated red light. "You don't know when to stop asking questions."

"But I want to know," she continued, undaunted. His katana was beginning to etch a deep scratch in her cannon. "I have a right, don't I? Being the one you chose to live with and all that? For god's sake, Gin, we've started sleeping together in the same bed. We have to share our secrets sometime…"

"Fine!" he yelled, suddenly pulling back. Instantly his sword calmed and faded back to blue. Samus relaxed and lowered her scratched cannon before removing her helmet and smiling at him. He was still irritated and with an angry air sheathed his sword. "Fine! I'll rally up everyone, meet me in the command room in a half an hour." He turned to leave, muttering quietly to himself. Delighted, Samus crossed her arms across her chest, glad that she had finally broken through to him, whether he liked it or not. Command room. Half an hour. She was totally there.

"Master of War", stated Gin, looking around at everyone he had assembled. "Because _Tejed_ wouldn't let it up." He glared at her. She sunk into the command chair, eyes wide and ears low. "And now apparently neither will _Samus_." He shot a glare at her too but she just stared back impassively, interested in what he was going to tell them. Vince looked excited to hear the story; he hadn't heard it in over a year; and Dejet looked just plain confused. Hackbot was somewhere else, keeping an eye on Sarah.

"It was my nickname back when I was in the Elite program," he explained, feeling suddenly very tired. Already the memories were coming back but somehow it felt good to tell them all. "I earned it because…" He trailed off for a moment and took a breath. "…Because I was the one who dominated the war and killed the most people."

Vince's happy expression fell. It seemed as though he preferred the exaggerated version as opposed to the raw truth.

"When you put it that way it's not as fun," he muttered.

"Of course it's not fun!" Gin cried, turning to him. "It was a god damn war, Vince! We all staged our deaths just to get out of there!" Vince closed his mouth and turned away. "And because of the raw Physeter they didn't even _test_, I was the one with the most bloodlust! Master of War was a very fitting title for me, wasn't it? Mr. Go Into a Rage and Kill Everyone?! I killed innocents! I killed families! I KILLED A LITTLE GIRL!!"

Samus put a hand around his shoulder to comfort him.

"Did they all stage their deaths?" she asked quietly, referring to the other members of his team. Vince snorted and muttered a quiet, "Of course not…"

"…No," replied Gin after a moment, his anger fading again. "No. I was the only one who did. Gamma Bear, Beta Wolf and Zeta Hawk all died. I still have no idea how. I staged my death to escape and Delta Fox over there--" He motioned at his brother. "--Almost died, only to have the Federation shoo him out on a misunderstanding." He noticed that Hackbot had come in, Sarah sleeping in his lap. He was sitting against the far wall and was listening intently to the conversation.

"What about Justin?" asked Vince sullenly.

"What about him?" snapped Gin irritably. Vince shrugged from his spot against the wall.

"I never saw him die," he replied. "Did you?" He let it sink in. Samus was looking at Gin curiously, as was everyone else. Hell, even Tejed looked interested, despite his rude comments to her.

"Justin Dimitriov, I think his name was, Gin said with a sigh, leaning against the wall. "Also known as Alpha Tiger. Come to think of it I never did see him die. Maybe he's still alive."

"And that was all of you?" Samus inquired. "All the members of EPSiLoN?" Gin nodded.

"First ever team of Elite soldiers, and everyone either died or escaped." He allowed himself a sad little laugh. "How's that for irony?"

"Come to think of it, I never saw Zeta Hawk die, either," chimed in Vince, his sourness at Gin's yelling melting away. "Just the Gamma and the Beta."

"Actually, yeah," replied Gin, thinking. "I actually have no idea what happened to it…"

"It?" asked Samus, confused.

"It was a robot," answered Gin, seeing her confusion. "Always thought of it as a he, though. He was our field medic, and a damn good one, at that. He was the one who helped me when I lost my arm…" Without realizing it he had started playing with his hand again, working a screw in his wrist lose only to tighten it again. Hackbot was completely silent, not a single peep out of him. Which was completely out of character for him. Suspicious, Gin gave him a good once over.

"You've been awfully quiet, Hackbot," he said warily. "What's wrong?" Quickly the robot shook his head, careful not to wake the Sarah sleeping soundly on his lap.

"Nothing's wrong!" he answered, sounding quite unsure of himself. Gin's eyes narrowed and the robot thought quickly. "I'm still insane, see?! Still my old…Self…" He trailed off. Gin wasn't buying it and with a sigh Hackbot decided it was now or never.

"So, uh…Gin…" he started, fidgeting with his antenna. For a robot with a single camera lens for a face he looked downright nervous. "You know how you said you never saw Zeta Hawk die…Right…?" Gin nodded slowly, unsure what he was getting at. "And he was a damn good medic, right?" More slow nodding. "And…And I'm the only one who knows how to administer your serum when the Physeter takes over…Right?"

"What are you saying…?" Gin asked slowly.

"So my name is Austin, right?" he continued. "Austin…Something. Oh god, it's been so long I forgot my last name…" He forced a laugh and Gin glared at him. He gulped and continued. "So…So I was a medic way back when. I…I was on a very specific team, by the name of…EPSiLoN…" He instantly cringed, as if Gin would hurt him.

"Wait…" said Gin slowly, his mind putting all the pieces together. "Does that mean _you're_ Zeta Hawk…?"

"At your service," replied Hackbot quietly, giving an awkward little bow. Vince burst into laughter at the absurdity of it and Tejed sort of grunted, not really caring one way or another. Her back still hurt and that was all that mattered to her at that point in time. Dejet was gone; she had more important things to do, anyhow. And Gin had already answered what Samus had wanted her to ask. She didn't have to be here.

"So all his time you insisted that you live with me…" he mused, intrigued by this turn of events. Hackbot was silent, staring resolutely at the ground. Vince's laughter had died down into quiet chortles and Tejed still didn't really care all that much. She had since leaned back into the command chair and fallen asleep, her question regarding Gin's nickname now answered. "…Why did you never tell me?"

"I wanted to!" started Hackbot. "But every time I tried you ignored me, or someone cut in, until I just thought screw it and held it in! And the war wasn't all that kind, you know! I think it messed with my brain, broke something crucial…" Tejed cracked open an eye and snorted, muttered, "You're even more insane than me."

"No one's more insane than you," remarked Vince. She growled at him and promptly went back to sleep.

"So you held it in, and it slowly ate away your sanity?" inquired Gin quietly. Hackbot nodded, feeling very dejected yet happy that after who knows how many years he finally told him. Gin smiled absently and rubbed the back of his neck. It was still sore.

"So half the team's here," he mused, looking at Hackbot and then Vince. "Two of us died and one of us disappeared. I wonder whatever happened to Justin? Mr. Alpha Tiger…?"

"Probably hightailed it out of the galaxy," replied Vince. He had since stopped laughing. "Never did like that guy. He was always so _sneaky_. I didn't trust him in the least."

"Oh, come on, Vince. You just didn't like him because he was Russian."

"And because I didn't trust him!" Vince retorted loudly, startling Sarah awake. "He was up to something, I'm telling you! You may have been the leader but he was reporting to someone higher! And he didn't like you, either, Vaughn. He hated you, I could see it in his eyes."

"What are you saying?" asked Gin tiredly. This was too much excitement for one day.

"I'm saying those deaths were more than just mere coincidence," said Vince quietly, pointedly. "Someone orchestrated them. Someone knew too much."

"You're talking crazy talk," replied Gin, though he too had always felt that something sinister was up. The Federation wasn't known for their honesty, he knew that much.

"Crazy talk my ass!" shouted Vince. "Somethin--"

"My god, Vince! Shut the hell up!" yelled Tejed, cutting him off. "I'm trying to fucking sleep and all I can hear is your paranoid ranting grating on my mind like _fucking_ _sandpaper_!!" Quickly she bit her tongue and glanced over at Gin. He brandished his fist at her for swearing with Sarah in the room and she mouthed 'sorry' before promptly going back to sleep. Evidently, though, the hybrid was not going to get any sleep. Without any sort of warning and quiet unexpectedly a rip in the fabric of reality appeared in the middle of the room, bringing with it the most bizarre noise of ripping space and a whoosh of cosmic air. Tejed jumped out of her seat and stared at it, vaguely frightened. The only person in the room who seemed unfazed was Samus, who looked at it with a feeling of old welcome.

"What the hell is that…?" asked Vince slowly. Just as quickly as it had appeared it vanished with an audible pop, leaving behind a sleek silver case. It lay untouched in the center of the room. Samus playfully pushed Gin forwards and tentatively he bent to pick it up. It sprung open when he touched it and he jumped back, surprised.

"Don't be scared, you wuss," teased Samus, pushing him forwards again. He kneeled down and put his hand into the capsule, coming out with a small holo-screen. Vince approached him and knelt down, as well, intrigued by this curious happening.

"What the bloody hell is it?" asked Tejed crossly, trying her best not to swear. Gin activated the holo-screen and quickly read it. He let out a small laugh and Tejed's ears rose.

"It's an invitation," he replied, still reading. Tejed walked slowly over, as well, her back paining her with every step.

"…To what?" she asked softly. He looked up and smiled, excited.

"A tournament."


	16. Chapter 16

_Federation Log: y 2078: 04/15 _

_I was right. Gut instinct never fails. Vaughn was picked first. We…Actually never tested the Physeter before. It's still in the experimental phase. We needed a human test subject, and considering how strong Vaughn was he was perfect. There were only minimal aberrations in the lab animals. A few instances of insanity here, of heightened aggression there. But they were few. _

_Apparently we were wrong. _

_Vaughn almost killed one of the techs. Shortly after his initial injection we noticed a side effect right away: altered eye colour. We had never seen this in any of the lab animals, so it came as a shock. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. He's been irritable and moody and prone to sudden waves of almost maniacal anger. He'll go on bloody rampages to sate the bloodlust the Physeter inadvertently created in him and he'll revel in the chaos he's created. _

_Some of the other Elites…Their injections went well, without a hitch. Vaughn's brother was the second, injected with a modified batch, and the only side effect he got was the altered eye colour, and at that only one eye changed. The others have started calling Vaughn the 'Master of War', and I don't blame them. The Physeter's gone to his head, screwed up his mind. He's gone insane, but he still has his intelligence, so he's still the leader. _

_Hopefully we can tame the beast we've created enough to get EPSiLoN up and ready. Heh, EPSiLoN. _

_Elite Personnel SecurIty Law enfOrcement uNit. _

_The fact that we turned a Greek letter into an acronym still astounds me. Every time I read it. Amazing. _

_Jim Shaw, Head of Bounty Hunter Relations and Official Organizer of the Elite Project_

_That's actually a really long title…I should shorten it. _

~*~

Exactly Samus, Gin, and Tejed had received the strange invitations to the apparently inter-dimensional tournament. Gin and Samus were currently setting up and preparing to leave while Tejed…Well, Tejed was somewhere else. Nobody knew where. And considering the type of things she tended to do when she was alone everybody hoped all to hell she was on her ship, not Gin's.

"Super Heroic Intergalactic Tournament," mused Gin as he set in the coordinates, laughing slightly. Samus shot him a curious look.

"Why's that funny…?" she asked. She had gone to this tournament exactly once before this and didn't know why he was giggling.

"The acronym," he replied. "Come on, spell it out…"

"Super Heroic Interga…" It dawned on her and she allowed herself a small facepalm, smiling. "Shit, it spells SHIT, doesn't it?"

"Bingo."

"I've already been there once and I never noticed that," she said with a chuckle, Gin laughing as well. It would be nice to go to the two week tournament, to get away from all the chaos known as pirates and the Federation. Maybe they'd get some leads there, too. Meet some interesting people. Or maybe not. In all actuality Gin was just hoping for a rest from all the recent havoc, some down time where he didn't have to worry about anything.

"I'm gonna get'cha!"

Sarah ran screaming happily into the room and glomped onto Samus' leg, her face flushed and her eyes screwed shut.

"Mommy, save me!" she yelled. "Scary Man is coming to get me!"

"Scary Man…?" she parroted, looking up at the door. It was Vince. For once he was not being obnoxious and was playing with her, chasing her around the ship like a monster. The small girl shrieked when she saw him and tried to leapt at Gin for safety, burrowing herself into his command chair. He just laughed as Vince approached them.

"The Scary Man's gonna get'cha!" he bellowed, swinging his arms above his head for added emphasis. Squealing in delight she jumped down from Gin and his chair and made a beeline for the door, all the while screaming, "Don't let the Scary Man get me!" But Vince, ex-super soldier Elite that he was, was a bit too fast for her and cut her off, grabbing her and holding her tight. It seemed as though, after a few weeks off the frigate, he had recovered most of his strength and was having a good time taking advantage of it.

"I got you!" he yelled, laughing.

"No, help!" cried Sarah, giggling madly as he started to tickle her, exploiting her one greatest weakness: her feet. She was too ticklish for her own good. "Mommy, help!" she cried between breaths, her face turning red from the laughter.

"Vince, stop," demanded Gin, a wide smile on his face. Grinning Vincent abruptly let go and set her down, Sarah instantly running into Gin's arms. Vince perched on the console, his arms folded across his chest.

"So what's it like having a child?" he asked suddenly, still grinning. Gin felt a familiar sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, a feeling he always got when his brother was about to do or say something either infuriating or stupid. "Do you two ever get any s--"

"--No Vince!" yelled Gin, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. Apparently Vince had decided on being infuriating today. "God damnit with the questions again! Geez! You and your bloody filthy mind!"

"It's not filthy! It's human nature! Just like se--"

"--Damnit, Vince! There's a time and place for this kind of talk!" Vince looked like he was having a ball, getting Gin all riled up.

"And this is the time!" he exclaimed, grinning wryly. Beside Gin Samus decided to try her best at ignoring Vince, but it was not easy.

"No, it's not the time!" cried Gin, falling for his brother's bait. He pointed at Sarah, who was watching them curiously. "Especially when there's a little girl in the room!" Vince just shrugged dismissively.

"She'll have to learn sooner or later."

"Later, Vince! Much, much later!" At that Vince's smile grew a full three notches.

"…So!" he said, changing the subject. "You think you and Samus are going to have an actual child, soon? You know, get down with each other…?" Sarah perked up at that and looked to her foster parents excitedly.

"Mommy and Daddy are going to have a baby?! I bet it's gonna be a girl!"

"Damnit, Vince! Look what you did!" exclaimed Gin in regards to getting Sarah's hopes for a sibling up. Samus blushed, unused to such talk, and abruptly left the room, in dire need of some fresh air. "…And look what else you did! You scared off Samus!"

"One point for Vince!" exclaimed, well, Vince, pumping his fist victoriously in the air. At that moment Tejed wandered in. Apparently she had been on Gin's ship this entire time, and as a celebration for being invited as a participant in the tournament she had taken the opportunity to get drunk. Because it shut up the voice. And when her mind was quiet she was happy.

"Why's'there four of you?" she slurred, pointing between Vince and Gin, Sarah smiling at her from his lap. "I thought I saw whashername leave…"

"…Samus?" supplied Gin.

"…Yeah. Her." The hybrid looked close to falling over and took a long gulp from the bottle she had brought with her.

"But Tejed, there's only three of us here, not counting you," corrected Gin.

"No, I see…FOUR!" she yelled. She counted on her fingers, realized she only had three per hand, and turned to the other hand, holding up four misshapen fingers. "Righ' there! Between you and…Whasisname!" Gin glanced over at his brother then back at the hybrid. Sarah was giggling, was finding Tejed's drunken state of mind hilarious.

"…Vince?" he supplied.

"YEAH!!" the hybrid yelled, brandishing the bottle at them. "She ha your eyes! I can see them from like a mile away! Like icy blue monstrosities! AND HAIR! Red! Like…Something that's red! That's not your eyed!!" Gin cocked and eyebrow.

"Eyes?"

"Wha'everes!" she yelled, laughing. Vince snickered at their exchange and said, "Tejed, you're drunk. Go lie down."

"…Okay!" She promptly fell over backwards, causing the entire ship to shudder. "Gin," she whispered reverently. "Gin…Your ceiling is BEAUTIFUL…" And just like that she fell asleep right there, the Rigelian Screech leaking out onto the floor. With a sigh Gin wormed his way out of the chair, and the Sarah on his lap, and righted it. He didn't like alcohol on his floor. It always dried strangely.

"I told you now wasn't the time," muttered Gin, leaning on his chair.

"Hey, when Vince is in the room, it's always the right time!" He promptly got smacked upside the head by exactly one mechanical hand for that. Tejed snickered from her spot on the ground, still partially awake. And Samus, who finally decided to risk it and come back, entered the room, stepping carefully over the suitless Tejed sprawled out on the floor.

"…There's a Tejed passed out on the floor," she remarked quietly, sidling up beside Gin. He just shook his head.

"I know." At that Vince snickered, the gears in his head already meshing.

"You two are always together," he started, waking the hybrid. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're getting it on like jackrabbits!" Tejed snickered again but stayed lying down. Gin facepalmed and repeated it to himself, "Jack…Rabbits…?"

"Yeah!" Vince exclaimed, elbowing his brother in the side. "You know, always getting it on in their burrows? Having rampant s--"

"--Damnit Vince, shut up!" Tejed sat up woozily and decided to add her two cents to the rapidly deteriorating conversation.

"What, you don't like the word se--"

"--Damnit, Tejed! You shut up, too!"

"Ha! So you don't like that word, do you?!" she yelled, grinning wildly.

"God damnit, Tejed," seethed Gin. Beside him Samus had long ago put her face in her hands, was shaking her head slowly. "Shut up before I give you a good smack upside the head." She scoffed at that.

"My skull's thiiick, it can handle it," she replied with a lazy sort of tone.

"Thick like a brick," Gin muttered. If Tejed had not been drunk she would have attacked him for that. Instead she let it pass over and lied down again, snickering unpleasantly to herself.

"You two _have_ been in your room a long while before you came here," piped in Vince. At that they hybrid perked up again and decided to play along, the misery Vince was causing on his brother amusing her.

"So that's what that obnoxious noise I kept hearing while I was sleeping was!"

Samus was blushing like mad and contemplated leaving the room. Despite her better judgement, though, she stayed. It was like the seventh sign of the apocalypse: Vince and Tejed were actually working together instead of snapping at each others throats. Must have been the annoyance thing they had going on. If it entailed bothering someone than they had a truce. If not, well, then they were enemies. Vince leaned over and whispered something into the drunken hybrid's ear, and at it she giggled childishly. Gin saw his brother count down from three, before both him and Tejed at the same time blurted out, "I bet you two are going to go to your room and have rampant se--"

"--Oh god both of you shut up!" yelled Gin exasperatedly, growing more and more frantic. Samus said nothing. Sarah, now perched on the arm of the command chair, looked absolutely delighted.

"Mommy and Daddy are going to have sex?!" she cried happily. Shocked silence pervaded the room and remained silent for all of three seconds, before both Vince and Tejed burst into laughter, Tejed leaning against Vince's leg for support. By this time the Hunter had grown a steady shade of red and Gin was speechless, at a loss for what to say. Sarah kept looking at them hopefully, unaware of the chaos she had inadvertently caused.

"Does this mean I'm getting a little sister?! Huh? Huh?!" she asked, tugging on Gin's shirt. Without another word Samus up and left, passed the two clowns still laughing like idiots. Gin watched her leave, a horrified and very tired look on his face, before finally addressing his foster daughter.

"Where did you learn that word?" he asked quietly, incredibly embarrassed.

"School," she stated simply, looking quite happy with herself. At that Gin sighed.

"Well, Mommy and Daddy haven't really planned it all out…" Her happy expression fell somewhat and for a few seconds Vince stopped laughing.

"Ha! You admit it!" he yelled. That was enough. Gently he put Sarah onto the floor before whipping out his pistol and shooting just above their heads, cutting off the laughter.

"GET OUT!" he yelled, his patience wearing extremely thin. They hightailed it out of there, Tejed stumbling as she found her feet.

"Shit! He almost killed us!" exclaimed Vince. Tejed just snickered.

"Can't kill me even if he tried," she stated smugly. At that Gin aimed and shot her square in the back of the head. She stumbled loudly into the doorframe and almost lost her balance, slowing to a stop as she shakily reached back. Her hand came back covered in blood and quickly she took off after Vince, actually frightened. "GRAY MATTER!" she yelled. "HE ALMOST _DID_ KILL ME! RUN LIKE FUCK, VINCE! HE'S RABIIIID!"

"GET OUT! GET GET GET!" screamed Gin, Sarah diving underneath the command chair in fear. He fired off after them a few more times before turning his pistol up and unloading it into the ceiling. There was a tumultuous crash, ending with Hackbot writhing on the floor in agony. Dumbfounded Gin lowered his weapon, confused.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he yelled. "And on the ceiling, no less?!" Hackbot found his feet and dusted himself off, ignoring the smoking holes in his steel body. He may have unloaded all his secrets, he may have been an old, old friend of Gin, and he may have regained what little sanity he had left, but he was still off his rocker and still annoying as hell. He stared at Gin for a few moments, choosing his next words carefully.

"…Recording!" he said after a moment, looking very pleased with himself. Something red beeped on the side of his head and without warning, and very angered with this mess, Gin punched him right in the main camera eye, rendering it obsolete. The red blinking stopped.

"ARE YOU RECORDING _NOW?!!"_ he screamed, pulling his hand free.

"…no…" replied Hackbot sadly.

"**THEN GIT!!" **

Without a sound Hackbot scampered out, as well, aided only by his peripheral eyes and now seeing in black and white. He met up with Tejed and Vince further down, both of them conversing quietly with each other and snickering to themselves.

"So did you get it?" whispered Vince, excited. In response Hackbot reached into his ass and pulled out a voice recorder, beaming up at them.

"The whole thing!" They all high fived, overjoyed at the chaos they had caught on tape.

"Now let's go post it on the internet!" exclaimed Tejed, positively giddy with excitement. She had a few 'friends' who would pay a good amount of credits for such a recording. She had already grabbed the recorder and turned to leave, only to walk into Gin. And he didn't look all too pleased. She fumbled with the recorder and threw it at Vince, who somehow managed to catch and pocket the tiny machine.

"Oh look, it's a Gin!" exclaimed Tejed, worming her way past him so she could escape. He made no move to stop her. "I'll…Just be on my ship, now. Getting ready for the tournament and everything. BYE!" She disappeared down the hallway, passing the door to the command room and the still slightly frightened Sarah. Gin turned his attention to his brother and cocked and eyebrow, held out his hand. Without another word Hackbot decided to run, leaving them alone. Vince stared at the outstretched hand for a moment.

"…But the recorder's broken!" he said suddenly, unwilling to give it up. "See?!" He pretended to activate it and spoke into the microphone, hoping Gin would believe he had taped over their entire conversation. No dice there.

"Come on, bro, give it up," demanded Gin. Sarah snuck out of the room and gently took hold of Gin's leg, staring up at both him and Vince.

"But…But…!" sputtered Vince, unwilling to give it up. He simply found it too hilarious to part with. Finally he conceded and placed the device in Gin's waiting palm, only to have Gin instantly contract his hand into a fist and crush the tiny machine. Vince looked horrified and watched as his brother let the broken pieces fall to the ground.

"That's about the only good that comes of having a mechanical arm," said Gin simply. "Now go find Dejet, tell her we're getting ready to leave."

"…Yes, sir," muttered Vince dejectedly, turning to leave. Sarah tugged on Gin's leg after Vince had stalked away and smiling Gin bent to pick her up.

"Why were you so angry, daddy?" she asked quietly. Gin hugged her close and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled.

"Uncle Vince and Aunt Tejed were being annoying, is all," he said, setting her down again. She brightened.

"So are you and mommy going to give me a sister?" she asked excitedly, still on about that. Gin sighed and smiled down at her.

"…Maybe."

~*~

The door closed a bit too quickly behind her, and wincing in pain she turned. Her antenna was stuck in the door.

"Jarvis," she whispered harshly, tenderly tugging on the antenna. "Jarvis, you closed the door on my antenna."

"I know," he replied snarkily. She gave the appendage a tentative pull but it was stuck tight.

"Please open it," she pleaded. "Pleeaase." Without a word the door slid open a fraction of a millimetre and Tejed yanked her antenna free before the computer could slam it shut again. Tenderly she inspected the end. It was all crinked and crooked and looked quite broken, the thin covering of exoskeleton shattered in places. Suddenly angry the hybrid glared up at the camera watching her from the corner.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" she yelled, momentarily forgetting the pain.

"_You_," replied Jarvis, his usually dreary voice marred with hatred. She narrowed her eyes, hugging the broken antenna close to her chest.

"You're just sore because I always ignore you."

"Nooooo," he replied sarcastically. If he had eyes he would have surely rolled them. "Whatever gives you _that_ idea?" Tejed glared at him for a second more before, without any prior indication of what she was going to do, violently lashed out at the camera and tore it from the corner, wherein she proceeded to slam it to the ground and stomp on it, reducing it to a mess of steel and glass.

"Take that, you fucker!" she screeched, intent on making it one with the floor. "Try and close doors on me now!"

"It's just an eye," Jarvis replied through the comm. system. "I'm still alive, you know."

"God fucking damn it!!" she yelled, punching the wall. The ship shuddered and something far in the bowels broke, shattered loudly. She allowed herself a grim smile. Maybe it had been Jarvis' main terminal.

"Stop leaving dents in the walls, you zoo animal," he muttered angrily. Her smile faded and with a frustrated growl she turned away from the wall, her broken antenna dragging limply behind her. She had come her for her suit and some more booze, not a snarky computer. Last she had checked he was still depressed. What had changed that? Why was he back to his old infuriating mindset? He continued to spew derogatory remarks at her while she found and donned her suit, all the while trying but failing to catch her other antenna in a door.

"You bastard, Jarvis," she seethed, barely missing another door. It slammed shut mere millimetres from her antenna, its metallic clang echoing throughout the ship. The high pitched sound rung painfully in the hybrid's head and she faltered in another doorway. This time it slammed closed on her foot and, caught completely by surprise, she lost her balance and pitched forwards into the floor. Her face connected painfully with the steel ground and she felt her nose crack. Quickly the furious hybrid rolled over onto her back and glared at the door. It was locked resolutely on her foot and she could not pull it free.

"You bastard, Jarvis!" she repeated, this time yelling. If the computer had shoulders he would have shrugged dismissively. Instead the camera inset into this corridor watched her silently, no doubt enjoying her misery. Tejed gave her leg a good yank but it only managed to both get the mechanical prosthesis even more jammed and open up old wounds in her leg where the machine met the flesh. Luckily due to the fact that her nerves were dead in that area she felt nothing.

"Open the door, you fucker!!" she screeched, pulling her leg in vain. The door remained stubbornly closed. Something warm ran down the back of her throat and she coughed it up: blood. Just as quickly as she started struggling she stopped and tenderly brought her hand up to her nose. It was stuck at an awkward angle, the cartilage broken and snapped. It only served to make her angrier.

"You broke my nose!" she yelled, flinging a combination of spit and blood from her mouth. "That's the second time it's been broken! You fucking bastard!!" She started struggling again, only serving to open her old wounds even more. Thick yellow and black pus that had been lying dormant in her ravaged leg for months began to leak from their gouges but she didn't care, intent on freeing herself and cursing all the while. Jarvis chuckled morbidly to himself, amused at this unique form of payback. Maybe now she wouldn't ignore him as much. And maybe, just maybe, she would ignore him even more.

The door screeched open a hair and the hybrid managed to pull her leg free. Curious, Jarvis aimed his camera eye in the corner down and stopped laughing. Tejed didn't really care about anything other than the fact that she was free and was nursing her leg, eyeing the oozing wounds with obvious distaste.

"Tejed...?"

Snarling she looked up. It was Zotch'Ti, holding the door open. Some of her blood and pus had splattered onto the doorframe, was currently eating tiny pockmarks into it.

"What the fuck do _you_ want?" she spat as he tentatively approached her. She distinctly remembered telling him that she hated his face and never wanted to see him ever again. He must have been mentally deficient, she thought sullenly. Was cheating death. Maybe he was a masochist. Without saying anything he gently took hold of her arm and proceeded to pull her to her feet. She complied, only to round on him the moment she had regained her stance.

"You fucking touch me I will rip you apart," she hissed, perilously close to biting off his face. The pirate instantly recoiled to a safe distance but did not leave. Cautiously the hybrid tested her leg, absolutely sure that if her nerve endings were not shot she would be in a shit load of pain right now. The scrawny pirate eyed her leg. Despite his alien appearance he seemed concerned for her welfare, seemed pained every time she limped on it.

"What are you staring at?" she spat. He flinched at her venomous tone.

"Your leg..." he started, wringing his hands together.

"Is fine," she snapped. She took a step away only to stumble, her leg buckling underneath her. Jarvis chuckled as Zotch'Ti ran to help, only to have her grab him around the throat and squeeze, hard.

"I told you it's fine," she said lowly, once again in repossession her stance. "What did I tell you about touching me?"

"N-Not to…?" he choked out, her grip tightening. She grinned.

"And what did I tell you about being seen…?" He choked and coughed but couldn't squeeze out his words, instead scratched futilely at her gauntlets. She cocked her head to the side and hoisted him higher, so the tips of his clawed toes dangled two feet above the ground.

"What was that?" she asked quietly, her voice silky smooth with barely concealed joy. His pain was lightening her mood, bringing her close to the edge without her even realizing it. "I didn't quite catch that. Say it again."

"I…N-n--" he choked, spluttering on his own saliva. "Do--Don't let y-you see--See me…?" Tejed grinned wide and pushed her face into his.

"Exactly," she breathed. Without warning she let him go and he fell unceremoniously to the ground, shuddering. "Now get." No response. He turned and looked up at her, tried to say something, only for her to yell in a sudden wave of anger, "GET!!" Without needing to be told twice the pirate scientist quickly found his feet and took off through the door, not once looking back. His fear made the hybrid at the same time both hideously happy and overwhelmingly sad, and not sure exactly how to deal with such a strange mix of opposing emotions she grumbled angrily to herself and turned back down the hall, towards the main exit.

"But I like frightening people," she muttered to herself. "It's what I do best…" Uncalled a vision of her own sister came to mind, a mental movie wherein Dejet had shown fear towards Tejed. The memory sickened the hybrid and she paused by the main door, her leg aching dully.

"_It's what you do best," _commented the voice snidely._ "You frighten people. Good. They're all so weak, anyhow…" _

"You just shut up. You're not helping," she snapped, annoyed. Without a second thought she limped off the ship, leaving Jarvis and the pirates alone with each other. Zotch'Ti peeked around the corner as she left, the main door sliding shut, and sighed.

"I just want to help," he muttered in his native tongue. "Why won't you let me…?"

"Because you ruined her life." The scientist jumped, surprised, and turned around. M'nark grinned at him, his arm hanging by a thread. Zotch'Ti eyed it, not sure he wanted to know what convoluted plan M'nark had gone through in order to sever his arm. Against his better judgement though, he asked.

"What's wrong with your arm…?"

"My arm?" parroted M'nark, looking down. He gasped, as though he was unaware that his arm was attached by nothing more than a single ligament. "My arm!" Quickly he grabbed it and tore it from his shoulder to a chorus of snapping flesh. Zotch'Ti winced at the sharp noise and watched as M'nark chucked the severed arm into a nearby darkened room. It took a few seconds for his arm to regrow and he smiled, relieved.

"Crisis averted."

And all Zotch'Ti could do was facepalm and mutter, "You idiot."

~*~

"Okay, I'm ready to go!" announced the hybrid, crawling onto Gin's ship. He peeked around at her from the command room and cocked an eyebrow.

"…What's wrong with your nose?" he asked, eyeing the line of blood that had dried on her face. She snarled as she approached him and leaned on his seat.

"Jarvis broke it," she hissed, obviously still angry that he had done such a thing. "Trapped my leg in a door, lost my balance. Hit the ground like--" She smacked the back of his chair, hard. "--That!"

"…Like a ton of bricks?" he muttered, turning his attention back to the controls. Everyone was here. They could go now. And he was still somewhat sore at both her and Vince for that stunt they had pulled earlier.

"Like a ton of bricks!" the hybrid agreed jovially. It seemed she had either forgotten or no longer cared. And she had sobered up a bit, too. "Now where's my sister! She deserves a hug!"

"Why?" asked Gin, still engrossed with the controls. With a low bass whine the ship started up.

"She's my sister!" Tejed exclaimed. "She deserves a hug every time I see her! Just like…" Gin was no longer listening and the hybrid trailed off, the word 'you' hanging on the edge of her lips. No. She wouldn't say it. He didn't even care, anyway. Instead she shrugged and took her weight off the back of the chair, sighing as she did so. Some other time. She'd tell him some other time. The ship now up and running Gin turned to her, his expression curious.

"Just like who, Tejed?" he asked suspiciously.

"My parents!" she said quickly, suddenly feeling very shy around him. "Just like my parents! If I ever see them again they all get a hug. Yup." He smiled, suddenly catching on.

"Are you sure you don't mean me…?"

"What?! Noooo!" she exclaimed, backing out of his command room, hands held up defensively. "What are you, crazy?! I'm crazy! There's only room for one crazy here!"

"…What about Hackbot?" Stumped she stopped, mulling over this new conundrum.

"Two," she stated after a moment, holding up two fingers. "There's room here for two crazies, but that's it!"

"Whatever you say, Tejed," Gin replied with a smile. "Whatever you say." Without another word he piloted the ship up and out of the shipyard, where it abruptly exited Federation space and quickly accelerated close to the speed of light. A small blip beeped on the main viewscreen: the rift. The tournament apparently was situated in another dimension, and to get there they had to pass through a rift in space and time that only they knew about, for they were the only ones with its location. Absently Tejed mulled about the command room, not quite sure what to do with herself now that she was here.

"…How long until we get there?" she asked softly. Her nose was starting to ache. That wasn't good.

"About an hour," he replied. "It's actually not all that far. It's just tiny so it's hard to find."

"I see," replied Tejed quietly, turning to leave. She didn't want to be here with Gin, even though she enjoyed his company more than she could describe. She would be perfectly happy wandering his ship for an hour, peeking into rooms and being alone. Then she could think. Unless the voice decided it didn't want her to be at peace, didn't want her to be herself. It was either be here with Gin, or be alone with the voice. It was a lose lose situation.

"No, wait," said Gin, motioning her to come back. She paused by the door and looked back at him, her ears low. "You've been mopey and sad every time you see me for the past few weeks. Is there something you want to tell me…?" Quickly she shook her head.

"Nothing!" she said loudly, shying out the door. "Nothing at all! Wha--"

And incessant alarm started up, a high pitched shrieking that pierced through her mind. Instantly she covered her ears, the noise too much. Gin silenced the alarm and looked over the main console, glancing up at the viewscreen. Drawn by the sound the rest of the gang had come up, curious as to the commotion. Gin did not seem to notice them, his expression grim.

"It's a distress signal," he said after a moment. Samus came up beside him and stared intently into the viewscreen. A dot of red a few million miles to the left, slightly underneath them. Someone was in trouble. Vince came in, pushed rudely past the hybrid and approached his brother. Without warning Gin stood and pushed his brother into the command chair.

"You keep on for the tournament," he instructed, heading out of the room. "I'm leaving."

"Wait, Gin!" called Samus, running up to him. He stopped in the door. Tejed shied even further away. "I'm coming, too."

"You're leaving?!" exclaimed Vince, struggling out of the seat. "Where're you going?!"

"To help," he replied simply.

"But--"

"--Go to the tournament," Gin interrupted, glaring at Vince. "We'll be fine." Defeated, Vince sunk back into the chair. Arguing with Gin was pointless, especially when he had that determined glint in his eyes. As they passed Tejed she opened her mouth to say something but decided not to, instead sighed heavily and sauntered back into the command room. Vince glared at her.

"You're just letting them leave?" he spat. "Just like that?"

"They're bloody hunters, Vince," she replied sadly, sitting on the floor and leaning against the back of the chair. "Just let them go. They know what they're doing." His expression softened.

"Are you alright…?" he asked uneasily. She wasn't insulting him or yelling at him. That was unlike her. She closed her eyes and blocked out the pain in her leg and nose.

"…I'm fine," she said after a moment. "Just fine…"

~*~

It was huge and decrepit, hanging lifelessly in the black expanse of space like it was dead. That or slowly dying. Carefully Gin docked his ship at one of its broken ports, avoiding the shards of steel jutting out at awkward angles. One of them scraped his ship's hull, screeching noisily, but left no damage. His ship was docked. He sat in silence, Samus beside him, staring into the darkened entrance. He didn't like it. It was too clean, too quiet. Too untouched. It was almost as if whatever had happened had happened years, possibly decades earlier, and the wreckage had been floating derelict for all that time. The thought was unnerving.

"Wanna go in, then?" asked Samus, breaking the silence. Gin started out of his seat, surprised by the sudden sound in the almost deafening silence.

"Uh…Sure, yeah," he said quickly, already rooting around the cabin for his helmet. Samus eyed it sideways, sort of cocked her head to the side.

"Helmet?"

Quickly the hunter donned it and shrugged.

"There might not be any atmosphere in there," he replied, his voice somewhat muffled through the helmet. "Either that or really thin. Hell, there might not even be _oxygen_ in there. I'd rather not take that risk." Samus chuckled as she put on hers, as well.

"I didn't even know you _had_ a helmet."

"A lot of people don't." They both got ready and stared out the main window, into the foreboding mouth of the ship, framed as it was with jagged teeth of steel and scrap. Something floated by in the vacuum, something small and hard and decidedly dead. Gin shuddered. It tapped softly against the main window and suddenly he saw what it was. A head. A severed head of some unknown creature, some strange alien, bereft of blood and freeze dried in the unimaginable cold. Its features, so utterly alien and warped from the vacuum, were set into an unmistakable look of pure agony, of suffering. It had been in pain when it died, its expression frozen in time. Gently it floated away to the rest of the ship. To its brethren.

This time it was not Gin but Samus that shuddered. There was something wrong with this ship. Something hideously wrong, something that chafed painfully up against her soul and sent shivers down her spine.

"I don't like it, Gin," she stated, staring into the maw. As a rule she never ignored her instincts. They had saved her life more times than she could remember. Gently shaking his head Gin approached the main door and laid his hand on the handle, glancing back at her.

"I don't like it either, but there's innocents in there," he replied. Samus glanced back at the maw one last time, shuddering. There was something evil here, something unholy. But there were also innocents. And as much as she loathed this place she could not just up and leave innocents to die to their fate. Especially in such a grotesque place. With a faint sigh she looked back at Gin and nodded once, ready, before reaching down and activating the heavy magnets inset into her boots.. Despite her many years as a bounty hunter, she could never quite get used to the sensation of the atmosphere departing, of the vacuum coming in. A high pitched hiss of gas escaping was the last thing she heard before everything went dead silent. Gin stood by the opened door and held out a hand. Hesitantly she took it, and together they left one ship to board another. She may have been wearing her suit but she could still feel it, could still sense the nothingness clinging to her suit, anxious to strip away the last bit of breathable oxygen in her tanks and hold her close forever. It pressed closely to her form and followed her determinedly, as though it loved her. As though it longed for her atoms, her molecules, to be one with it again. To sleep forever in the eternal void.

The Hunter glanced away from the ship before she entered, out into deep space. Directly in front of her was a spectacular sight: a galaxy in stark contrast with the inky void, its delicate curled arms swirling into nothingness. It was quite the sight, and a quick glance down afforded another view. A glowing yellow and red nebula alight with bright blue stars. Above was a similar star forge, and a little to the right was the local star. She did a quick once over of her HUD, confirming that she was looking at Epsilon Lyrea, one of the main stars in the Lyra constellation. Up close she could see that it was not one but four separate stars, only referred to as one because they were so close together. She snorted in morbid amusement at the star's name and with a heavy heart turned back to the derelict vessel. Space, no matter how beautiful, could wait. They had innocents to save.

"Beautiful sight, huh?" the distinct Australian voice crackled over her comm. link and she glanced around, slightly startled. Gin was waiting patiently by the wrecked docking bay, watching her watch the deep space. She had been so absorbed in the sight she had forgotten that he was there.

"Magnificent," she replied with a sigh, joining him. For a moment he stared at the faraway galaxy, as well, before finally entering the ship, the Hunter close beside. The darkness, even blacker than space, swallowed them up hungrily, obliterating all vision. Samus activated the night mode on her helmet, illuminating the dead corridor in a ghostly shade of green. Beside her Gin did the same, only his visor shone blue. And it came as no surprise to find the inside as dead and lifeless as the outside, somehow even more so. Patches of ruined ceiling showed naught but the blackness of space, a blackness so dense that all their visors saw were pools of nothingness glaring balefully from the wreckage. The coldness of it all was overwhelming.

"Where to, Mr. Masters?" asked Samus amiably, staring out a wrecked porthole. He didn't correct her on his name and did a once over of his HUD, locating some faint life signs further into the ship. Samus could have easily located them herself, but for once she wanted somebody else to do it, for she had never done a serious bounty with another hunter.

"That way," he replied after a moment, pointing down the throat of the dead beast. "They're faint but…They're there."

"Then what are we waiting for?" the Hunter inquired, starting down the corridor. Gin strode along beside her, glancing around into all the nooks and crannies. At least it wasn't a god forsaken talker, he thought. But the dead space of the vacuum wasn't exactly comforting, either. It was eerie, was what it was. He never liked the vacuum. Something could explode, something could roar, someone could shout a warning, but no one would ever hear it, for there was no atmosphere to convey the sound. He found that highly disturbing, and just like Samus got nasty vibes from this place. He hoped they found the stranded civilians soon so they could leave already and get to the tournament.

Anxious to get this over with he glanced at the Hunter he had grown so close to over such a short time. She was still gazing up at the ceiling, watching the expanse of space drift slowly by. She seemed reverent, as though she saw something in the deep void that no one else did. Almost as though she was desperately trying to find something hidden among the stars.

"You like space?" he asked quietly. Samus looked over at him, then back up at the shattered ceiling, holding a hand out as though she could reach out and grab one of those far off stars.

"It has a texture," she replied softly, her hand grasping at nothing. "The blackness is so intense…" It fell limply to her side and she sighed, defeated. Whatever it was she was searching for had eluded her, again. Like it always did. Gin watched her curiously.

"What are you looking for?" At that she glanced at him again, trying to see his face through his opaque visor. Nothing.

"…My family," she said after a moment. Gin nodded in understanding. But did he really?

"The Chozo…?"

The Hunter nodded; an almost imperceptible movement.

"But they're dead," said Gin gently. "They went extinct."

"No, they're out there," replied Samus strongly, her determination having resurfaced. "Their spirit survives, I know it…" Gin nodded in agreement, his thoughts briefly straying to his sword. It had been revealed to be of Chozonian origin, and at that many aeons old. Maybe it had been forged on some long forgotten planet the universe had discarded, maybe it had been forged in a ship somewhere. But the fact remained: if it had survived the test of time, why not the Chozo? Many Earth philosophers spoke of the bird people having reached enlightenment, and considering their highly spiritual nature he did not doubt that. The only question was where? Where had they gone? Where had they ascended to?

A thump up ahead, though it was not the sound that alerted them, for it was dead silent, but the disturbance. Something had disturbed the perfect vacuum. Something else was in here. A piece of detritus up ahead floated away from a rift in the wall, in its wake a trail of freshly agitated dust. The two hunters watched it for a moment, ready in case something decided to attack. Nothing. Nothing except the deafening silence, drilling its way into their heads relentlessly. It was almost enough to drive someone mad, Gin mused sullenly.

"…Shall we go, then?" asked Samus, breaking the silence.

"Oh god yes," he replied. He hated the vacuum. It was too quiet. "And keep talking, please. This silence is too much."

"I'll agree with you there," the Hunter replied, taking up the lead. "It's enough to drive me insane." Gin allowed himself a chuckle at her choice of words.

"Maybe that's why Tejed's so out of it," he said with a crooked smile. "The silence drove her over the edge."

"I don't doubt that," replied Samus, sidling up beside the rift. No more disturbance. The void remained calm. "That would explain the voices. Something to keep her from hearing the silence."

"In some morbid way that makes total sense."

Quickly Samus swung around the torn wall, her cannon poised and ready. She was only greeted with more decay, more sad wear and tear. More silence. Hesitantly she entered the new room, Gin ever diligent by her side. He had drawn his katana, its blue electricity sparking without a sound in the void. Briefly she gave the sword a once over, trailing her gaze down its rune strewn blade and back. It no longer looked as menacing as it did during their training match and for a moment Samus wondered if she had imagined it. But the name etched into it in Chozo glyphs, 'Baldur', made her slightly uneasy, as though she vaguely recalled the name but did not know from where. The silence was beginning to pierce her mind again and she shook her head quickly.

"Ever heard of anyone named Baldur?" she asked, her voice driving away the silence. In response he poked his sword into a pile of debris, stirring up some more ancient dust. The pile hid nothing.

"Can't say I have," he replied, glad for the conversation. "Have you?"

"A long time ago…but I can't remember…."

Here the walls were crisscrossed with a curious organic substance, like something alive. Though they did not radiate heat or move, they emitted a field of faint static electricity. They looked like nothing more than grayish marks on the wall. And they were alive.

"What do you make of this?" she asked, pointing at the organic mesh. Gin poked it with his sword. The heat of the electricity seared the flesh and it wiggled, as though aggravated.

"I can tell you that I don't like it," he replied stoically. The life readings on his HUD were growing stronger. Samus caught them, too, and as one they turned to the back of the room. A thick steel door lay ajar at the back, a creeping web of seemingly dead tendrils emerging from it, clinging to the walls and the ceiling like thick roots. They both stared down it, strangely frightened despite years of experience. Gently Samus pushed Gin forwards. He resisted and cast her a downtrodden look. She smiled grimly.

"After you, Vaughn," she said playfully. Anything to ease the stress, the eerie feeling of dread.

"My name's not Vaughn," he replied, catching the hint of humour in her voice but taking the lead anyhow. Always on their guard they entered even deeper into the ship, the beast. Here the tendrils grew thicker, some as big around as a human head. Strange disused machines jutted from the floor, broken canisters littered the ground. A light haze hung over the room, obscuring the far corners in fog. Something about the machinery and the way the place was composed was vaguely familiar but the Hunter did not know why.

"This place seem familiar?" she asked, stopping by a long dead terminal. Something dead and frozen lay near one of the further terminals and Gin approached it, his footsteps nonexistent. Whatever it was was laying on its front, its carapaced back shattered in places and warped in others. Poor wretch, he thought sadly, pushing it over with his foot. It probably never knew what hit it. With a silent thump it dislodged from the floor and floated upwards, turning slowly in the oblivion in some sort of macabre dance. Gin yelped and jumped back, startling Samus and suddenly seeing the room for what it was.

"It's a Space Pirate lab!" he exclaimed, pointing at the dead pirate. Half its face was missing and it had mechanical irises in place of eyes. But it looked emaciated, thin. Like it hadn't gotten any nourishment in months before it had died. Curiously Samus approached it, tapped lightly on its leg with her cannon. Abruptly it evaporated into a cloud of pirate coloured dust and Gin jumped again, alarmed.

"What the hell!" he yelled, waving a hand through the dust. "What killed it?!" Samus inspected the room, eyeing the broken tubes against a far wall. She sighed, dead sure she had eradicated them all years ago. But it was never that simple. Hell, she had been sure phazon was gone, too, only to find the walking phazon sieve known as Tejed.

"They're cloning them again," she said with a sigh. That's probably what the life readings were, she thought. That's probably why the pirates initiated a distress signal before they were all killed.

"Cloning what?" asked Gin, confused. "What were the pirates doing?"

"Metroids. They were cloning Metroids."

Gin, despite wearing a helmet, looked horrified. Quickly he glanced around the room, seeing the holding tubes for what they really were. He started breathing fast and Samus could not help but cock an eyebrow.

"Okay, let's go," he said quickly, already making a beeline for the door. "It was just Metroids. They were the life signs. No one's alive here."

"…Whatever you say, Gin," replied Samus, confused by his sudden change of behaviour but secretly just as glad to leave as he was. Something disturbed the silence, something rattled the quiet. A single life sign on both their HUDS, situated directly above them. The ceiling shook quietly and more dust was disturbed from its sleeping place. Both the hunters stood stock still, afraid to alert whatever was above them. The blip in their radar paused, and with it the vacuum once again became calm.

"…I think we should leave," instructed Samus quietly. Gin nodded in agreement and they both made a run towards the door, right as the blip became once again active, and with a terrifying screeching of metal on metal that couldn't be heard anyway it lunged forwards above them, shuddering the entire room. A piece of thick steel leaning across the door became loose and gently floated down, only to get stuck again, barring their escape. Whatever was above them stopped for another moment. Gin and Samus slowed to a halt in front of the barricade. The girder had twisted itself up in the mess of steel right good. There was no moving it. Above the creature started walking again, slowly, purposefully. The heavy steps faded away into the silence. The void became still.

"…What the hell was that?" asked Gin quietly. Samus shook her head slowly.

"I'd rather not find out."

They turned their attention back to the room. The only way out now was another door that no doubt led further into the ship. It was the only way. Even if Samus magically found something she could MorphBall underneath, there was no way Gin could follow, for he did not possess the same technology. And that was one of the great downfalls of being with someone. She simply could not leave him here to rot while she got to safety. He meant too much to her, as she was sure she did to him. Gin pushed her playfully towards the door.

"After you, Samus," he said quietly, getting his minor payback. Hesitantly she readied her cannon and entered the room. Instantly there was a shifting of weight, a settling of debris. There was gravity here. No more need for magnetic boots.

"Gravity must be all wonky," said Gin softly, now deathly afraid to break the silence lest they attract enemies.

"Must be," the Hunter agreed. Thick overgrowth lined the walls and ceiling along with the same gray tendrils. There was a hole in the ceiling which led to the above floor. The ship must have been huge, for they saw no blackness of space, merely more ship and more organic vines. It was a way to go, possibly a way out. Never mind if it led to the beast above, it also led to freedom. Quickly they approached it. A stack of crates and debris lay underneath the hole. Mayhap it had been an air duct or something before it had been decimated. Gin's foot struck against something and he started back, surprised. It was a small round ball covered in mouldish overgrowth, stuck to the floor with thick ropy strands of fibre. And it was moving slightly, as though alive. Instantly he jumped back and hid behind Samus for protection.

"It's a Metroid egg, isn't it?!" he cried, seemingly terrified of the innocuous object. "Kill it kill it kill it!"

"My god, Gin! It's just en egg!" He shook his head quickly, horrified.

"Kill it!"

The Hunter sighed and aimed her cannon at the egg. A sharp crack filled the air and it broke in half before she could fire. And the strangest thing ever issued forth from that egg. A tiny little larvae, all bright pink with pearly white fangs. It floated around the room, chirping confusedly, before catching sight of Samus. She aimed her cannon at it but it did nothing to harm her, instead began to do orbits of her head, all the while chirping excitedly. She laughed. It had imprinted on her! Just like the first Metroid she had encountered years ago. She held her hand out and it floated down, nibbled on her fingers. Gin look petrified.

"Oh god it's touching you!" he exclaimed, jumping away from Samus. "How can you let its hideous fangs _touch_ you?!"

"Relax, Gin!" she cried, laughing at his fear. The small creature continued to orbit her head before settling itself down on the top of her helmet. "It's not even a Metroid! For god's sake, it's a Mochtroid!" At that he calmed down only slightly, still eyeing the tiny creature now sleeping on the Hunter's head.

"A…Mochtroid?" he question hesitantly.

"An imperfect clone," she replied softly. "I saw a lot of them on Zebes before it was destroyed. They have weak life draining powers and are considerably more fragile than Metroids. And this one's just a baby!" She scooped the Mochtroid from her head, poked it awake. Its glowing purple nuclei brightened and it floated into the air again, chirping at both her and Gin. She laughed. "It thinks I'm its mother!"

Curious the tiny creature approached Gin, chirping and screeching like a tiny little bird. Instantly he went on the defensive, frightened of the small organism. It tried to touch his arm but he jumped away quickly. Evidently the Mochtroid saw this as some strange form of play and began to chase him, chirping excitedly as it did so.

"Don't let it touch me!" he yelled, running from it. Samus could not hold it in any longer. She burst into laughter.

"It's harmless!" she cried, watching him trying his damndest to stay out of its reach. "It couldn't hurt you even if it tried!" The Mochtroid finally gave up its chase and returned to Samus, where it proceeded to curl up on her head again. There was only one thing that bothered her. The Mochtroid was bright pink. But then, with all the experimentation the pirates did, it really shouldn't have been such a big surprise. Still on edge Gin approached her, all the while staring the creature.

"It needs a name," declared Samus. She always had a soft spot for small things, and the Mochtroid was no exception. Gin was instantly livid.

"It does not need a name!" he replied harshly. "It needs to go away!"

"Oh, is big strong Gin afraid of the tiny little Mochtroid?"

"I'm not afraid…" he said uncertainly. She scooped off the sleeping creature and held it in front of him. It hummed quietly in her hands, happy.

"Okay so I'm afraid!" he exclaimed, jumping back at the sudden proximity and holding his hands up defensively. His katana sparked silently at the Mochtroid and it squirmed out of her hands, suddenly afraid. Squeaking it hid behind her head, curled up between her helmet and her neck. Confused, Samus glanced at Gin's sword. Wouldn't a being made to suck energy be attracted to his sword, instead of repelled? For a brief second she had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, like his sword was nothing but bad news and needed to be disposed of, pronto. But quickly the feeling passed and she shrugged it off, at least for the time being. When they were done in this trap they were going to have a good talk about that electric knife.

"Afraid or not we still have to escape," she instructed, turning her attention to the hole in the ceiling. It was dark up there, tiny motes of organic dust hanging still in the meagre atmosphere. It was shadowy, it was foreboding, and it was decidedly scary, but it was a way out. Gin eyed the tiny creature curled up into her neck and pushed his revulsion away, taking on the mindset of a bounty hunter as he approached the stack of crates and began the slow climb upwards, Samus following. If anything the murky darkness one floor up was even more intense than what they had just been in, and the curious haze was thicker, too. The darkness clung to their suits like some sort of living creature that only wanted a hug, a caress. Maybe the silence bothered the darkness, too.

"Look," said Samus, pointing down the black corridor. At the end, a single speck of light: the galaxy. And at that moment something large and black and darker than the surrounding darkness moved in front of the pocket of light, cutting it off. The owner of the heavy treads from before. A single thought ran through both their minds, and unknowing they both muttered at the exact same time, "Oh shit."

Whatever it was, whatever this beast was in front of them, blocking their paths, it was like nothing they had ever encountered before. But then, the universe had a really bad habit of popping up with the strangest creatures for no apparent reason. And this one was no exception. It's dark red armour-like skin was crisscrossed with veins and arteries like a piece of organic marble and its hands, or what could be surmised as hands, ended in wicked curved scythes made for tearing through prey. It had no eyes, in their place a jumble of twinkling lights, and no mouth, in its place a deep abyss as dark as space, swirling with a crude semblance of the cosmos. Apparently it had been created to live in the freezing vacuum, to survive without any atmosphere of any sort with the nothingness its only friend.

"You think it's friendly?" asked Gin, breaking both the silence and the tension. Quietly the creature began to approach them, its heavy footfalls rendered completely silent, before suddenly launched itself at them, its void-maw gaping in hunger.

"No, I don't think it is," replied Samus calmly, quickly dodging the beast's attack. It floated past them almost serenely in the absence of gravity before clinging to a wall and digging its claws in for hold. Slowly it turned back to them, its star-like conglomeration of eyes twinkling malevolently.

"Maybe we should leave, now…" warned Gin, turning back to the far off exit. Another one, another beast of the void crawled out from a torn hole in the side of the corridor, a lifeless pirate body hanging from its wickedly curved claws.

"Mr. Ugly brought a friend…" he muttered. As he watched the void-beast brought the pirate to its swirling maw and devoured it, the body disappearing into it like it was a black hole. Its twinkling eyes set their sights upon the two hunters and it began to stalk them, still hungry, for its hunger never ended. The one behind them crawled back down the floor, its claws keeping it anchored, Samus' cannon trained resolutely on what passed as its face. It took a swipe at them with its claws and Samus immediately let loose with a charged blast. It hit the creature square in the eyes but did not damage. As the shot dissipated its twinkling eyes went out, only to slowly brighten again. It was unfazed.

"And they're hard to kill, too," she observed. The other one took another step before pulling the same stunt as its brethren, launching itself through the small stretch of space with its claws ready. Quickly Samus pushed Gin aside and they both dodged into a side room. Behind them the two void-beasts collided forcefully, their impact disturbing the still vacuum with a deep bass thud. Immediately the Hunter turned and forced what remained of the door closed, giving them a small chance at survival. And that's when Gin tapped her on the shoulder, his next words grim.

"Samus, we have company."

She turned, confused. More dead pirates? Her heart skipped a beat. The room was full of dead pirates, yes, but it was also full of void-beasts feasting on the frozen carcasses. Other creatures swam through the absence of air, too. More scavengers. Strange beasts like space-borne octopi with a mass of squirming tentacles and savage looking beaks that tore through the dead bodies. One of the void-beasts caught them with its twinkling eyes and muttered a low bass roar, alerting its brethren to the hunters. They all cast whatever passed as eyes towards Samus and Gin. Real prey? Real, living prey? Still warm and pulsing with life? These creatures were scavengers; they had never eaten anything alive, only dead. And the prospect of living, warm prey was a very appealing one, indeed. Especially when the creatures, who lived entirely in the freezing cold of space, had no concept of warmth at all.

Gin readied his katana. It sparked hungrily as it sized up the creatures, its electricity fluctuating between blue and red as though it didn't quite know what to do. One of the flying tentacle-beasts launched itself at them, driven by organic jets hidden in its mass of tentacles. Quick as a flash his katana had sliced cleanly through it, and without a thick carapaced hide like the void-beasts it was quickly rent in twain, a viscous yellow fluid that passed as blood spewing in slow motion from its two halves. And as one the beasts attacked.

"This is going to be fun," muttered Gin, as the mass of space-borne creatures descended on them like a cold living blanket. His sword easily cut through the tentacle-beasts, leaving the vacuum full of globs of sticky yellow blood, but the void-beasts with their gaping maws were another story entirely. Even Samus' cannon, which could blow a octopi to pieces, merely bounced harmlessly off the void-beasts, leaving them unscathed. They were for all intents and purposes unkillable.

"Why would such a deadly creature have a void for a mouth?" asked Samus dryly, fending off the void mouthed beasts with her cannon, using it as a blunt forced weapon instead of its intended purposes. Gin just shrugged, having sheathed his sword in favour of his staff.

"I do not know, Ms. Aran," he answered. His staff hit hard the closest creature, leaving a spider web shaped crack across its glittering face. It continued its relentless attack, still as strong as ever. "I simply do not know."

"Well you're the Australian host!" she said, mock anger in her voice. "You should know these things!"

"I've never seen them before in my life!"

"Well you should get out more!"

"I would if I wasn't in bed with you so often!"

"…Damn you and your logic!" Gin chuckled at that, whacked a beast upside the head.

"You sounded just like Tejed for a second there."

They were everywhere. On the ceiling, on the walls, and coming obstinately on the floor, their thick, strong claws leaving gouging marks wherever they walked. And that black swirling void in place of a mouth. Almost like a black hole, a whirlpool that went in but did not come out. Suddenly Gin had a plan.

"I have an idea," he said, fending them off. Samus hazarded a glanced over at him but did not say anything. An alarm in her helmet was yelling at her, shrieking in her ear at all the creatures hungry for their flesh. It was better than the silence, but only just. Gin drove off the nearest void-beast and quickly dug in his belt, coming out with a small black grenade. The Mochtroid, which had been awoken by the hungry creatures, was flying around Samus' head chirping worriedly. The Hunter in question cocked an eyebrow, smacked a creature upside the head.

"Grenades, Mr. Masters?" she asked, narrowly missing a curved set of claws. "You're going to blow them up?"

"Something like that," replied Gin, pulling the pin. Without warning he jumped at the nearest void-beast and stuck the grenade, arm and all, down its gaping maw. It burnt. Despite the suit and the fact that he was using his fake arm, it still burnt. The swirling void pounded his arm with radiation, sent delicate tendrils of creeping pain up the prosthesis and into his shoulder, setting it ablaze with fire. Underneath his helmet he screwed his eyes shut in pain and pulled his arm out, the void sticking to it like thick tar.

"Now we run," he instructed, grabbing the Hunter's arm. The arm of his suit was corroded from the void-beast's mouth, the steel eaten away and scoured with tiny pockmarks from its corrosive nature. Samus kept pace beside Gin, jumping any beasts that got in their way in a mad dash for the far, far door, the thick organic tendrils on the walls pointing towards it like living arrows. Behind them the void-beast shuddered violently and fell to its knees as the grenade exploded, instantly incinerating the creature in a miniature black hole. Everything in the room was pulled towards it as the two hunters escaped out of the room, accompanied by a deep, deep rumble that was not heard but felt in the very fabric of reality. And then it was over. Samus peered back into the silent room. It was empty. Even the globs of viscous yellow blood had been eradicated.

"My god, Gin," she remarked, turning back. They were back on the outside, staring at the galaxy that had greeted them mere minutes earlier. "A Darkmass bomb wasn't enough, you have grenades, too?" He shrugged and made a beeline for the ship, his arm still burning.

"So sue me," he replied tiredly. Samus smirked and followed him. Despite the near death experience he was happy.

"And that's how you kill a void-beast," he said, smiling at her underneath his helmet. "I should know, I discovered them. Let off a black hole inside their…Black hole." Samus shook her head.

"What, you're the Australian host, again?"

"Yes I am!"

And then the entire frigate shuddered, as though alive. Samus almost lost her balance and Gin stumbled, confused and frightened. Were there more of the void-beasts? Was there a huge one out to get them now that its children had been violently destroyed? If only it were that simple. Something huge roared, and this time they could actually hear it regardless of the vacuum, the sound was so indescribably loud. The Mochtroid squeaked in terror and darted past Gin into the opened ship, where it proceeded to curl up underneath the main command chair, shaking in fear. Quickly the two hunters boarded the ship and closed it off to the vacuum, filling it with much desired oxygen. Gin tore off his helmet and peered out the main window, his heart hammering in his chest. The frigate shuddered again, this time stronger, and pitched to the side.

"Quit staring, Gin," snapped Samus, her helmet now lying beside her. "Get us the fuck out of here, before we're killed!" The Hunter never swore, and not having to be told twice Gin started up the ship and took off as best he could, right as the frigate lurched even farther to the side and rolled right around, its huge belly lit up with the blue light from nearby Epsilon Lyrae. Now seemingly out of danger Gin swung his ship around to watch the decrepit frigate, his eyes going wide. For it was not a frigate, it was a creature. An impossibly huge creature that unwrapped itself from the form it had taken, its last meal, and glared balefully around with eyes made of stars. It opened its gigantic mouth and roared again. Gin could have sworn he saw Epsilon Lyrae; all four of its component stars; shudder.

"Leaving seems good," advised Samus. Gin nodded slowly and took off before the massive beast could see them, disturbed for he had never encountered anything like it before. It had uncurled into a mass of limbs and tentacles, most of them wrapped protectively around the pirate frigate it had been trying to digest before the two hunters had come along with their Darkmass grenades. Tendrils of itself snaked into the frigate, almost as though it was becoming it. Maybe the pirates had not sent out the distress signal. Maybe the creature had in an effort to attract more space ship flavoured prey.

"…You ever seen _anything_ like that?" asked Samus quietly. Slowly Gin shook his head, dumbfounded and awestruck. One of the space beast's glittering eyes landed on them and slowly it reached out towards them, its main limb aflame with millions of tiny sensory feelers.

"Gin, it's reaching for us." Gin could not pull his eyes away from the beasts. An odd number of twinkling eyes set into its huge skull in much the same way as the void-beasts, each of them sparkling in a different colour; some red, some blue, some white. All of them blazing with fire and almost impossible to tell apart from the backdrop of stars.

"Gin?"

It was almost mesmerising, looking into those eyes. Did it see him as he saw it? Did it understand what was going on? Or did it see them as mere prey, as another form of nourishment? Was it sentient? Was it curious? Was it angry…?

"God damnit, Gin!" yelled Samus, yanking the controls away from him. A few of the tendrils brushed the side of the ship, and now that they were up close he realized that they were bloody huge, all of them the same shade of dead gray as the tendrils in the frigate. The hunter snapped out of his daze now that he was no longer looking at the space beast's eyes and quickly regained control of his ship. The beast wailed at them as they sped away, too huge and slow to catch them even if it tried. Slowly it began to curl back around the frigate, its monstrous form becoming once again still as it melded back to the ship, its eyes disappearing back into the folds of its limbs.

Soon the beast became a mere speck on their radar, an unmoving blip bathed in the solar radiation of Epsilon Lyrae. The distress signal came back, beeped at them from the main console. The beast had started fishing again.

"…That was hideously strange," remarked Samus, looking intently ahead for the rip in space that would bring them to the tournament. Gin took a breath and leaned back into his seat. The coordinates had been set. All they had to do was wait until the ship piloted itself there.

"'Twas," he replied, his mind still on the space creature. He was a scientific man by nature. He liked to know stuff, to discover things. And he had never before encountered something so outrageously huge, something that fed on inorganic matter made by other species. He was too absorbed in his pondering to notice the baby Mochtroid that had crawled back out from underneath his chair until it chirped curiously in his face, and suddenly terrified he yelped and somehow managed to vault over his seat. The Mochtroid decided that Gin was no longer important and happily floated over to Samus.

"Well hello, there," she said tenderly, putting out a hand. It nibbled on her fingers before settling down on her head, curling itself up in her hair. She laughed softly but did not move it. For such a tiny little creature, nary a day old, it exuded a lot of warmth. Humming quietly it seemed to fall asleep on her head. Shivering from fright Gin moved back into his seat, never taking his eyes off the curious pink Mochtroid.

"Why the hell are you so afraid?" asked Samus, smiling. Never before had she met anyone as terrified of Metroids, or Mochtroids, as Gin.

"That creature makes no sense!" he exclaimed, pointing accusingly at it. "How in hell's name does the bloody thing fly?! How does it drain energy?! How does it see you when it has no eyes?! And why the hell did it imprint on you?!!" Samus shrugged, amused by his outburst.

"It's only a child. It needs a parent."

"But it's a floating space parasite!!" he yelled, waking the Mochtroid. "We're talking mammalian traits! It's not mammalian in any sense of the word! Nor is it insectoid or avian or reptilian or anything! _It defies science_!!"

"What we just saw defies science," the Hunter replied calmly. The Mochtroid's quiet humming faded but its warmth did not. "Why aren't you outrageously terrified by that?"

"Because it's not _that_!!" The Mochtroid stirred slightly but remained in place. "Where the hell does the energy go when it absorbs it?! For god's sake, Samus! It's a floating green--"

"--Pink"

"--PINK fanged nucleus monster with a penchant for killing things! How can you let it touch you without squirming in disgust?!" At that the Hunter shrugged.

"I think it's cute."

"It's an _abomination_!!"

"It's still a cute little abomination," she replied, reaching up and tickling it. It purred happily, its single nucleus glowing soft purple. "Aren't you? Yes you are." Beaten, Gin sighed heavily and turned back to the main window, his mood soured by the presence of the Mochtroid. The creature simply did not make sense in his mind. It was unknown, and that scared him. It was something completely and utterly alien. There were no ways to gauge its intelligence or plot its actions, no way to tell what it would do. It might up and kill them all, it might not. It might see Gin's arm and decide it's a tasty treat, and then it might not. He simply did not know how it worked or how its mind operated or what kept it afloat. And those thoughts scared him something awful.

"…You're keeping it, aren't you?" he asked after a while. Samus smiled benevolently at him, her dark bluish/gray eyes twinkling.

"What do you think, Mr. Phoenix?" He sighed again but kept his fear, and anger, in check.

"Fine," he conceded, rubbing his temples exasperatedly. Far up ahead there was a faint glimmer in the void of space, a thin line of brilliant white that seemed to fluctuate strangely. The rift. "Fine, you can keep it. Just keep it away from me, please." In response to that the Hunter gently took the slumbering creature from her hair and set it down by her side, where it curled up into a small ball of warm pink Mochtroid and stayed asleep.

"Thank you, Gin," she said sweetly, leaning over and giving him a light kiss on the cheek. He blushed slightly as they entered the rift, the frigate shaped space beast far, far behind and very much asleep.

For the time being.

~*~

"What the hell took you two so bloody fucking long?" snapped Tejed irritably. The first words out of her mouth and already she was swearing. "Were you out there having kinky space se--"

"--NO!" cried Gin, cutting her off. "We were escaping from a giant space monster!" She was silent for a moment, the rusted gears turning.

"…So you WERE having kinky space se--"

"NO SHUT UP!!" the hunter yelled, about ready to tackle her if she kept this up. That did it. Already she was getting angry, her face contorting into a wicked sneer. She hated being interrupted all the time and this was no exception.

"…WHY WON'T YOU LET ME SAY SEX?!!" she yelled suddenly, annoyed by the whole 'stop her before she says it' routine everyone had going on. She had yelled it so suddenly that no one could stop her this time, and confused and vaguely frightened that she had actually said it for once she did the only thing she knew: she yelled some more.

"Holy shit I said it!" she yelled. Gin and Samus sighed heavily and shook their heads. "What the hell?! You're supposed to stop me saying it! Now I'll have to go on a long tirade about it! SEX! Haha! I said it again! SEX SEX SEX!!!" She started laughing manically, as though it were the funniest thing she had ever heard.

"My god it's like she just learned a new word…" muttered Gin, his face in his hands. The hybrid had to lean against the side of their ship to keep from falling over, the whole ordeal for some reason raucously funny to her. Dejet peered out from the main ship, her eyebrow cocked, and shook her head before ducking back in. Samus leaned over and whispered to Gin, "I think even Sarah is more mature than her." Gin nodded in agreement.

"I HEARD THAT!!" Tejed yelled, her laughing fit having passed just as suddenly as it had come on.

"Then what did I say?" inquired Samus, amused and at the same time tired of her random outbursts. Tejed thought for a moment, her expression glazing over.

"…I don't know!" she cried, clutching at her head. "I forgot! Damn you voice! YOU MADE ME FORGET!!"

"…_leave me out of this. Please. Just leave me out of this…" _it muttered, for once not keen on taking over. Gin shook his head, baffled by her current bout of weirdness. She started giggling to herself and slid down the side of the ship until she was sitting, her arms wrapped around herself. Vince exited the ship as well, drawn by her laughter, and stood beside his brother watching her.

"You know what?" he started. The hybrid was pointing at the sky and muttering to herself though the laughter, all the while repeating the word 'sex' over and over again. "She'd look very nice in a straitjacket right about now." Gin slapped him upside the head for that.

"Oh come on!" Vince protested. Tejed was still giggling madly. "Look at her!"

"I can see her," replied Gin. "And as much as I hate to admit it I agree."

"Then what was the slap for?!"

"You were asking for it." Sarah exited the ship next and stood between both of her makeshift parents. All they needed now was a Hackbot and a Dejet out here with them and the whole gang would be here. By now Tejed was holding a complex conversation with herself, asking and answering her own questions. It was almost creepy.

"Mommy?" asked Sarah, grabbing Samus' leg. "Why is Scary Pirate Lady acting so weird?"

"She just learned a new word, Sarah. She just learned a new word." Sarah stared at the giggling hybrid and cocked her head to the side.

"I think Scary Pirate Lady's crazy," she stated, before abruptly turning and disappearing back into the main ship.

"I AM NOT INSANE!!" yelled Tejed angrily, the laugher stopping abruptly. Silence. Quickly she glanced up at the light green sky, then back to the ship. "What's that, ship?" she asked, knocking gently on its scarred hull. She leaned forwards to listen, nodding in understanding. "Gin and Samus like to have sex with each other?...Why yes they do!" She smiled widely and giggled. "Yes they do! Good ship! You get a cookie!" She burst into laughter. "Ships don't eat cookies! What are you, crazy?! Shut up, Tejed! You're insane!" More of the deranged laughter.

"What is she laughing at, anyway?" asked Vince after a moment.

"Well, first it was the word sex," answered Gin. She continued her laughing fit. "But now…Now I really don't know."

"Ah. I see," replied Vince, staring at her. He really didn't.

"Don't listen to the voice, Tejed," the hybrid rasped between laughing. She had leaned forwards, her face in her hands, and was rocking back and forth. "Don't listen to it. Whatever you do don't listen to it. Ignore the bastard. It'll only drive you INSANE!!" Gin shook his head again and boarded the main ship, Samus as usual close behind. He had seen the hybrid like this before. He knew it would pass with time, and that he simply could not help even though he wanted to. Vince stayed behind, still watching her. The laughter had died down and she had started crying, her face buried in her hands.

"I think you're insane, Tejed," he remarked from a safe distance. She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Don't say that," she hissed. "I hate it when you say that. It's a horrible word. Don't call me that. I'm not insane. I'm perfectly normal. Normal, see?"

"You're living in denial."

"DENY THIS?!!" she cried suddenly, clutching her ears. "How can I deny this?! How can I deny what I am, what I've become?!" The hilarity had melted into sadness and then paranoia. "How can I deny the voice inside my head that won't _fucking_ _leave_ _me_ _alone_?!!"

"You need help, Tejed," he replied, not to harangue her, but for once because he was actually worried about her. She was acting even more erratic than usual and it was starting to scare him.

"I'M NOT INSANE!!" she yelled, standing. Vince started back.

"I didn't say that," he replied, trying to stay calm.

"Of course you didn't!!" the hybrid yelled, pointing a shaking claw at him. "Every time you look at me you picture me in a straitjacket locked up in some padded room devoid of windows! You hate me, you fucker! You want to lock me up!!"

"Calm down, Tejed."

"That's where you see me, isn't it?!" she continued, all the while crying. "In a fucking insane asylum all by myself with absolutely nothing to look forward to. That would make you happy, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it?! There'd be no more me to get in the way of you!"

"You're getting erratic, take some deep breaths," he said quietly, trying to keep her from going over the edge. It was no use. She was already too far gone for sense to be talken into her and had resorted to clawing at her head in frustration, tears streaming down her face.

"Break the shell," she rasped, walking in tight little circles. "Break the shell, I have to break the shell. Someone help me break the shell. Why is the shell so thick…?" Dejet appeared in the main doorway again and glanced at them, her eyes narrowing when she saw Vince.

"What's with all the yelling?" she asked suspiciously. Tejed ignored her, intent on her insane mutterings.

"You're sister's getting hysterical," he answered, pointing at her. "Please, calm her down before she hurts herself."

"Since when do _you_ care about Tejed?" she asked, leaving the ship. Vince didn't answer and stood back at she approached the clearly deranged hybrid and gently took hold of her arm. Tejed stopped her pacing but continued to mutter to herself, staring at nothing with fevered eyes.

"Tejed, it's me," said Dejet calmly, leading her back onto the ship. "Calm down and come inside, please."

"You see the real me, don't you?" Tejed asked quietly, her voice shaking like her body, like her mind. "Y-you're not scared of me, right? Why is everyone scared of me? Why do they see _this_ before they see _me_? Why does the world hate me? Why does the voice hate me…?"

"Shh, it's alright," cooed Dejet as they boarded the ship. Tejed didn't seem to hear and was still glancing around, looking at everything and nothing. Vince sighed and followed them, keeping his distance behind the hybrid and her sister.

"It's going to be an interesting tournament," he muttered. "Interesting indeed."

~*~

"Does it come as a surprise when I say I don't like you?"

"No…No it doesn't, sir…"

"Good, because Jim?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I don't like you."

High Commander Johnson was rambling again. Rambling about how much he disliked Jim and how it was all Jim's fault for hiring his own ex-super soldier and how, at the time Johnson had hired him, he had been dead sure that Jim had a brain in that head and how now he was having second thoughts. To say Jim was starting to feel horrible was an understatement.

"I swear Jim," the High Commander continued, his voice still happy despite what he was saying. "One of these days you're going to get killed by your own experiment. You know, the first. What was his name again? Jog my memory."

"Omega Phoenix, sir…"

"Omega Phoenix!" exclaimed Johnson, spreading his arms wide. "Also known as Vaughn Masters! Very first elite, very first to get injected, very last to die! And one of the people you hired! Wow, Jim! I didn't know it was physically possible for your stupidity to drop any lower!" Jim suppressed the urge to punch the High Commander right across the face. He valued his job too much.

"Well I'm sorry if he changed his name, sir," Jim mumbled.

"Of course! He changed his name!" cried Johnson, as though he had forgotten that crucial fact. "To what? Oh, yeah. To Gin _Phoenix_!" He let the words sink in and Jim sunk into his seat, feeling very miserable. "Because having a legal surname of Phoenix totally isn't odd at all! Nope! None whatsoever!"

"He also changed his eye colour," muttered Jim, remembering that on his birth certificates Vaughn's eye colour had been listed as green.

"So the man bought some contacts and you instantly don't remember him?" said Johnson scathingly.

"No, it was the Physeter," replied Jim. "It changed his eyes red, and when he asked for a job they were blue."

"Oh, boo hoo," snapped the High Commander, reaching into Jim's own desk for one of his bottles of wine. Jim did not protest, instead entertained his mind with visions of striking down the High Commander where he stood. "Mr. Christmas Eyes was too hard to find, or something? For god's sake, Jim. He's an Australian goody two-shoes. It wasn't that much of a leap to take, was it?"

"…I suppose not, sir."

"Good, I'm glad you see it my way," replied Johnson, heading for the door. Jim eyed the bottle of dark red wine clasped in his superior's hand and sorely wished he had gone through with those mental images instead of just think about them. The High Commander paused by the door and glanced back at Jim.

"You already ruined EPSiLoN once, Jim," he said lowly. "Please don't do it again."

"…Yes, sir…"

And with that Johnson was gone. Immediately Jim leapt to the comm. inset into his table. The High Commander may have hated Jim's guts and may have enjoyed his pain a little too much, but he had given him a second chance, and Jim was _not_ going to screw it up this time. A scientist appeared on the viewscreen, his coat colour coded to show that he was more than just a regular scientist.

"Douglas, get on the Elite Project right away," he instructed, at the same time fishing up a list of their meanest inmates. Douglas looked taken aback.

"What, right now?" he asked. He had been trying to eat a sandwich.

"Right now," confirmed Jim. No more sitting around getting reamed by his superior. It was time for action.

"But I'm on break!"

"And I don't care!" yelled Jim. The scientist flinched. "I have a list of possible subjects for infusion. I'm sending it to you." He hit a button and the list was sent to Douglas. He skimmed the list on screen, his eyes going wide.

"What the hell, Jim?!" he yelled. "You're mad! These inmates are in maximum security for a reason!"

"I know," replied Jim simply. "Now start weeding them out. I want six of them. Six of the meanest and strongest you can find. Pronto."

"What the hell for?!"

"We're remaking EPSiLoN," he replied, smiling grimly. The sandwich lay untouched in front of Douglas, his mouth hanging open.

"Wait, say that again?" he asked, sure that he had misheard his boss.

"We're remaking EPSiLoN."

"You really are insane!" cried the scientist. "You remember what happened last time?! You remember how unstable Omega what's his name was?! And now you want to crank it up a notch and use inmates?! Have you lost your mind?!!"

"No, I haven't," replied Jim calmly. Douglas had always been quick to incite. His surprise and anger would die down soon enough. "Now please, get on it. I have my reasons." Grumbling Douglas terminated his connection, no doubt so he could hastily finish his sandwich first. Sighing Jim turned to the windows and looked out over the city. One hurdle down, a couple hundred more to go. He turned back to the comm. He had a feeling he'd be jabbering into it for a long while over the next few weeks. This time a woman appeared on screen.

"Yes, Mr. Shaw?" she asked professionally.

"Cindy, I need you to get some posters put up," he instructed, sounding tired. She cocked an eyebrow.

"What kind of posters?"

"Wanted posters," he replied. "We're putting out a bounty on Vaughn Masters and Tejed Jenal. Please, Cindy. Do it as fast as you can." The young woman nodded and Jim terminated the connection. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Now he could do what he was best at. Wait.

* * *

AN/ I have no idea if FanFiction even allows the uploading of oneshots in one story. A collection of oneshots, there we go. And I have no idea who to ask. If they say yes I'll upload them after this is over. If I do it now I'll spoil the story! I hope this chapter was enjoyable! Space is far too amazing to me and I enjoyed writing the scene with the void-beasts way too much. Anyone think it turned out alright?


	17. Chapter 17

_To think Aether was our one and only home is a laughable concept. For while our brethren fell to the treacherous Ing, and filled us with their infinite sorrow, we found new friends: a people who call themselves the Chozo. They are enlightened, like us, and while they have transcended their mortal shells and flew to a higher plane, they have still given us much wisdom and knowledge. And for that we thank them. Though, through all the different tales they have imparted with us, there is one story of theirs that bothers us utmost: _

_The tale of two warriors. One evil and dark, the other good and holy. Baldur and Sypher. _

_They were cast together in an eternal war, or so we were told. One was full of dark, dark evil that makes even us shudder, while the other was a being of the light, a creature of redemption. One set out to cast the other away, and they warred for countless aeons, destroying all they came in contact with. Which included the homeworld of the Chozo. But eventually, all that is dark must fall to the light, and Baldur, in a moment of weakness, was cast down. Sealed away in an artefact, as ancient as the dark creature himself. _

_And yet, while the dark is evil and must be cast away, as the Ing were on Aether, we feel that something is amiss in this story the Chozo have imparted with us. To send one away to slumber fitful dreams for all of eternity while the other is revelled as a hero? Even we, children of the light, have sympathy for the beasts of darkness, evil as they may be. For the light cannot exist without the dark, and the dark without the light. Good without evil is nothing, and evil without good is meaningless. The Chozo seemed to have passed judgement without looking at both sides, content despite their wisdom to lock one away without a passing glance. Only because one was a threat. And the other came to their aide. _

_We understand what happened. Action had to be taken. And yet it seems wrong. Why do we see so many hasty decisions and impartial misjudgements? _

~*~

All Douglas had wanted to do was finish his sandwich. That's really all there was to it. He had specially made that sandwich, too. No store bought sandwiches for him, he made them all himself. Why? Because they tasted better, that's why. That and they were less expensive. And right now his roasted tomato and brie sandwich was staring forlornly at him from the nearby table, watching with sad olive eyes as he fished exactly six inmates up from the roster, each of them meaner than the last. A tired sigh and he turned from the computer, eyes falling on the sandwich. Good, he was done. Now for his lunch…

"Douglas!"

He groaned and reluctantly put the sandwich down again, turning to the door. Jim strode in, looking all important and with an air of extreme impudence. Douglas was lower down the ladder than him, and Jim wasn't afraid to act on it.

"How's it coming along?" Jim asked, taking a stance beside the terminal. He quickly read through the list of names, for a moment forgetting about the skinny scientist trying to discreetly get to his sandwich. A smile spread across his face and he clapped Douglas on the back, laughing.

"Good work!" he exclaimed, straightening. "Didn't hold anything back, eh? And I see you picked four that Mr. _Phoenix_ himself put away…"

"I can assure you, that wasn't intentional," muttered Douglas, staring with tired eyes at the screen he had been staring at for the past three hours. Curious, Jim flipped through the roster, eyeing up each and every subject, briefly skimming through their bios. A pair of brothers, small and mean and with a chip on both their shoulders; Mr. Shacklebolt himself, recently put away by Tejed but put away many times before by Gin himself; and a humanoid thing with a downright psychotic grin and a trio of electric eyes. Jim nodded in approval.

"Good picks, Douglas," he said, straightening up, eyes falling on the last two candidates. His brows furrowed. These weren't inmates.

"Who are these two?" he asked, a faint accusing tone in his voice. One of them was tall with double jointed legs not dissimilar to Tejed's and a face hidden behind a tinted dark purple/pink visor. The other looked like any other civilian, and Jim was confused.

"Last minute picks, sir," Douglas answered quickly. "This one was…_Volunteered_ earlier. Apparently he's an experiment like TransFuse, too." At that he pointed at the visored creature, before turning to the man. All he wanted was his god damned sandwich. "And this one is for the Hunter herself. Cybernetic body, downloaded consciousness."

"Of…?" inquired Jim, intrigued by Douglas' choice. Something about the man seemed familiar but he could not place it. Maybe it was that gleam in his eyes, maybe it was that painfully familiar smirk on his face.

"Uh…" Douglas muttered, flipping through a small book by his table. As well and good as technology was he preferred a real copy of everything. It made him feel safe. "That would be…Adam, sir. Adam Malkovich. Died years ago…" Jim nodded, a small smile forming across his face.

"Samus' one and only Commanding Officer…" Jim muttered, intrigued. Vaguely he remembered the events of the BSL station. Apparently the computer Adam had been uploaded had not been dismantled, but set aside for later use. And this was it. He clapped Douglas on the back again. "You are a sly man, Douglas," he said happily. Finally they could rid themselves of Samus without getting the blame. Saved the galaxy or not she was still wanted. She just happened to be a prominent figure in the public eye, and if the Federation made it clear they wanted her head, well, they'd probably have to deal with the masses. They had already managed to cover up the Jupiter Incident, swipe it cleanly under the rug. Now it was time to do the same with Samus.

"…I do my best, sir," he replied quietly, trying but failing to worm his way out of his seat. Jim ignored him and cast his glance to the low ceiling, thinking. Stealing his chance Douglas slid from the chair and finally did what he had been trying to do ever since Jim strode in: took a big bite out of his sandwich. And it was just as delicious as he remembered. He watched as Jim glanced around the room, eyes falling on the Physeter holding tanks near the back. What was he thinking, Douglas wondered absently. What did he see when he looked at those holding tanks, filled with liquid concentrate that could only be described in two words: raw power. Should he ask? No, Jim was his superior. But he was intensely curious…

"What are you thinking, sir?" he hazarded, Jim looking quickly at him. He half expected his boss to snap off his head for such a personal question. Instead Jim shrugged absently and looked back at the tanks, then at the computer readout.

"Just wondering," he said quietly, in a dreamy sort of tone. "What it's like…" Douglas nearly choked on his sandwich, tasty as it was, and shot Jim a disbelieving look.

"D-don't wonder," he coughed, the chewed sandwich almost lodging in his windpipe. "You saw what happened with the Phoenix. Broke his mind. I'm pretty sure you're enjoying sanity right now."

"A man can still wonder…" he muttered quietly, still staring at the tanks. A door hissed open, then closed, followed by the rhythmic clip clop of high heeled shoes, and with a smile Jim turned. Cindy, his receptionist, a holo-book in her hands, approached him.

"The posters are done," she said calmly, handing him the book. It showed two separate posters, to be projected on every available surface in the city, one of Vaughn and the other of Tejed. And the one of Tejed was exceptionally hideous. At the sight of her Jim grimaced and handed her the book back. He didn't like looking at her. There was something off putting about that scarred face that he didn't like. It looked just the tiniest bit too human and he hated that.

"Good work," he said formally, adopting his old official tones. "Now get these projected everywhere. I want those two freaks in custody ASAP." Cindy nodded once and walked out, and where Douglas would have continued to eat his sandwich in peace instead Jim grabbed him roughly by the arm, the last few bites of food falling to the floor. The scientist cried out in surprise.

"Where are we going _now_?!" he cried, exasperated by the constant running around.

"We've got some inmates to get," Jim responded calmly, already halfway to the door. Douglas balked at the implications.

"We're going to the _prison?!"_ he exclaimed, aghast. "And you're taking _me?!"_ Jim nodded grimly and instantly Douglas put up a minor struggle. "Don't take me there!" he whined, dead set on staying here in his comfortable little laboratory with his sandwiches and his sanity. A rather violent twist of his arm and Jim rounded on him, not in the mood for petty games.

"Look, our lead scientist is gone, right?" Jim hissed angrily. Shakily Douglas nodded. Dejet Jenal, lead scientist of the top secret Elite Program, had vanished without a trace more than a year ago, and even though he was curious and had liked her, Douglas had asked no questions. He saw what happened to people who asked questions, and he didn't want to mysteriously disappear too. "And like it or not _you're_ the new lead scientist now. _You're_ the only one with the knowledge that left with the late Ms. Jenal, and _you're_ the only one who knows how the Physeter works. So _you're_ coming with _me_ to the prison and _you're_ helping first hand with the new Elites. Got it?" Feeling ridiculously close to tears Douglas nodded feverishly, knowing full well that he could not say no. Jim smiled and straightened, for a moment his smile reminding the scientist of a hungry wolf ready to down its prey.

"Good," said Jim quietly, giving Douglas' arm a yank. "Now come on."

And sadly, Douglas followed, dreading what was to come with every passing second. They left the room, the door hissing shut behind them. Silence. The Physeter tanks hummed complacently, kept cool to avoid accident. It was a volatile substance when raw, prone to sudden and unpredictable reaction of handled incorrectly. Said effect tended to differ every time. Sometimes it exploded like nitro glycerine. Sometimes it worked itself up to a boil and took on the properties of acid. And sometimes it acted like mercury and sunk into people's flesh, driving them slowly insane from the amount of radiation and chemicals it gave off.

And so the Physeter tanks continued to whine quietly. For all intents and purposes the room was empty. Until High Commander Johnson himself walked quietly out from behind the tanks, dragging a hand over the smooth steel wistfully.

"Wants to know what it's like…?" he muttered, staring at the closed door. He was smiling. That small peculiar smile that at first glance came off as pleasant and on second was revealed to be malevolent; quiet and plotting. The exact opposite of kind. Calmly, in no hurry, he slipped a hand into his pocket, his fingers wrapping around cold glass and steel, a few seconds later drawing out a glinting syringe. He allowed himself a small chuckle.

"Jim, you idiot," he said quietly, proceeding to walk around the tank to a small spigot valve near the side. The syringe clanked in his grasp, seemingly confused. Quietly he kneeled down and stuck the needle into the spigot, pulling back the stopper. The clear body slowly began to fill with dark red fluid, almost the color and consistency of rich old wine.

"I never did like you," he said, a hint of humour in his voice, as though no matter what happened or how the tides turned it would always be nothing more than an elaborate game. He held the syringe up to the light and inspected the Physeter. It was crystal clear, clean and unsullied. "Maybe one of these days I can actually use you for something…" Quickly he capped the sharp needle with a thick plastic sheath and slid it back into his pocket. As of now Jim was merely a placeholder. He had no real worth. All he did was give orders and carry information. For all intents and purposes he was useless.

And when the shit hit the fan, Johnson would make sure he lived up to the small print on the bottom of the contract he had signed. The small print that read something along the lines of 'expendable'.

~*~

Dejet did not remember a time she had ever seen her sister so unbearably sad. All the times she had come to Dejet for help, all the times someone at school had done or said something mean to her, all the times she had accidentally hurt herself or suffered some sort of minor trauma, she had never been this sad. The hybrid was currently curled up on Dejet's bed sobbing like a small child, her body wracked with shivering. Dejet herself was perched on the bedside, trying but failing to calm her down. Tejed's sorrow was simply too intense.

"Please stop crying…" she said softly. Her words held no discernable effect and Tejed continued to cry, curled up into as close to a foetal position as she could with her suit on and clutching ineffectually at her head. The voice was silent; it was not what was bothering her. _Everything_ was. And Dejet could do nothing to help.

"_Listen to your sister, stop crying,"_ whispered the voice. It may have been sadistic and in many aspects evil but it sounded concerned. _"Please, Ms. Jenal. You're making me sad…" _

"No…" she sobbed, burying her face into the pillow. The voice sighed and became silent. They both shared the same thoughts, the same emotions. And so much sorrow was making it horrendously sad, especially when it was closer to her emotions that even she was. With a faint sigh of her own Dejet stood and prepared to leave. She couldn't help, anyhow. Tejed grabbed her arm, holding her back. Confused Dejet turned.

"Don't leave me," the hybrid rasped. All the crying and screaming from earlier had rendered her voice thin and scratchy. Dejet did not move. "Please don't leave me. Everyone always leaves me; I want you to stay…"

"I'd love to stay but I have things that need to get done," Dejet replied. She couldn't help anyway. Distraught, Tejed let go, her arm hanging limply over the side of the bed and her claws scraping quietly against the floor. Her expression was a curious mixture of paranoia and grief.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" she hissed, her eyes feverish. "You're just like--Just like everyone else, aren't you? You're siding with them…" Dejet retreated to the door.

"I'm just leaving for a few hours," she said sadly. "I'm not leaving forever." Tears welled in the corners of the hybrid's already reddened eyes.

"Everyone leaves forever. No one--No one ever comes back." She started crying again, this time softly. Her tears mixed with the dried blood around her broken and bent nose and dripped onto Dejet's bed, staining the white sheets green and red. "I'm so lonely, Dejet. Please don't leave, don't leave me all alone…" Dejet faltered, now unsure if she should leave or not. Feebly the hybrid reached out to her, her hand quivering. "Sometimes I get so lonely I could--" Break down into tears, which was exactly what she did.

"I'm sorry, Tejed. But I have things that need to get done."

She left quickly, shutting the door behind her. As much as she wanted to help, as much as she wanted to hug her younger sister and tell her that it would be alright, she simply could not. It was true that she had important things that needed her attention, but they were not more important than her sister. She simply had to get out of there before the hybrid's sorrow attached itself to her, as well. Tejed's quiet sobbing and fevered muttering reached her ears through the closed door and she quickly set off down the hall, trying to block it out. And as much as she hated to admit it, both to herself and her sister, Tejed also scared her, and this was no exception. That simple fact, that she was afraid of her own sister, made her feel hideously guilty and she almost felt like vomiting, the guilt was so intense. That was not right. She shouldn't be afraid. And yet she was.

"What am I, afraid?" she muttered, stopping in the middle of the hallway. She could still hear her sister. She had stopped crying and was now arguing with herself, giggling uncontrollably and no doubt staring with fevered eyes around the small room. Dejet felt another pang of guilt and fear and quickly started down the hall again; where to, she did not know. It was because she was insane, Dejet realized. That broken mind scared her something awful and she couldn't be near it for too long without running away.

"Oh god, I'm a horrible person," she muttered, feeling tears well at the corners of her eyes. "She's my god damned sister and all I do is run away…"

"Run away from what?"

Dejet perked up, realized that she was in the ship's mess hall. Vince was standing near the exit looking at her curiously. He had gotten the tail end of her muttering before he had left and with a smile approached her. Dejet shook her head, not in the mood for his antics right now.

"Nothing, Vince," she said quietly, sure that if she told him about Tejed's current bout of hysteria she'd get nothing but an earful about how much Vince despised her. Concerned, Vince put an arm over her shoulder and led her to a table, sat down beside her.

"Come on," he pressed, his voice quiet. "You can tell me. It looks like it's eating you up, anyhow." Dejet sighed and put her head in her arms.

"It's Tejed," she stated, waiting for the raucous laughter. Nothing. Instead Vincent leaned down as well and snuggled closer to her in an effort to alleviate her mood.

"How's she doing?" he inquired, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Worse," replied Dejet bitterly. She still hated herself for simply leaving. "She's been crying for the past hour and when I left she started talking to herself, _again_." Vince was silent for a moment and briefly Dejet wondered if there was something wrong with him. Usually by now he was loud and obnoxious and just piling on the dirty jokes like there was no tomorrow.

"Sounds like she needs some human comfort," he said after a few seconds. At that Dejet looked up at him. He smiled encouragingly down at her.

"Since when do you care so much?" she asked, confused. "I thought you _hated_ Tejed." Vince shrugged.

"I dunno, I just don't like seeing her sad like that," he replied. Dejet cocked an eyebrow.

"But you called her a filthy hybrid. You don't even like her."

"No one deserves to be that sad," he said quietly. "Especially your sister." Gently he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Now come on. She needs some love." Dejet resisted for a moment, still afraid of her sister's shattered mind. But Vince was adamant and managed to pull her from the room, his warm hands and authentic concern for the broken hybrid making Dejet feel a tiny bit better. For the briefest of seconds she felt safe beside him, like she had on the frigate. For the briefest of seconds she wanted to hug him close and never let go. For the briefest of seconds she remembered all the things Vince had ever said to her sister and pulled her thoughts away from him, returning back to the present.

They arrived outside Dejet's room, and she hesitated, frightened. Whatever she had felt just a few seconds ago so close to Vincent was gone. Now all she could think about was Tejed. Big scary Space Pirate Tejed.

"I can't," she said quietly. The room was silent, no more fevered muttering. Vince gently pushed her towards it.

"She may be insane but she still needs hope, Dejet," he said calmly. For a moment Dejet was deathly afraid to go in there, deathly afraid to see her sister curled up on her side muttering to herself and answering her own questions. But after a moment the fear subsided and, still feeling guilty, she opened the door. Relieved she saw that Tejed was no longer curled up in the foetal position; now she was perched on the edge of the bed, her body wracked with spastic shivering and her breathing shallow. At the sound of the door opening she looked up.

"You came back," she whispered, smiling lightly. Her hands were clasped together gently upon her lap. "I thought you left but you came back…" Hesitantly Dejet sat down beside her sister, noting the dried tears still streaking her face. Vince crossed his arms and remained in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"I--I'm sorry I left…" Dejet muttered, unable to look Tejed in the eyes.

"It's alright," replied the hybrid softly. Her voice was still hoarse and raspy. "I don't blame you." Without warning Dejet wrapped herself around Tejed's waist and hugged tightly, ignoring the jaunty suit poking her in the face.

"You scare me so much, Tejed," she whimpered, afraid to let go. "You look scary you act scary your broken mind is scary and I'm scared you're getting worse."

"I'm fine now…" Tejed whispered, feeling close to tears again.

"I wish you weren't so scary."

"…I do too…" the hybrid replied, gently hugging her back and trying not to see the scrawny pirate her mind persisted on feeding her in place of her sister. The voice should have been happy that it managed to evoke such a strong reaction out of her, should have been ecstatic with the misery and sorrow it had swung her prior happiness into, with the deadly paranoia and self loathing its constant screams and mutterings had created. But it felt none of the happiness it should have. Instead, it felt the very emotions the hybrid herself was put through, only ten times worse, pumped up in amplitude by the psychotic tides of insanity they both shared.

The voice in Tejed's head was sad as well, to the point all it could do was cry with her, and it didn't know why.

Gently Dejet pulled away from the hug, and Tejed smiled sadly down at her, her sorrow fading by slow little degrees. A second later she glanced up, catching sight of Vince at the door, and instantly snarled, quickly putting up her facade of anger and surliness.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she spat, his wince from her harsh voice putting her into a better mood. Fear from Vince always made her feel better, because she never suffered the guilt she felt whenever she scared someone else. Like Gin. Or her sister. He didn't answer right away and Tejed growled at him, low and sultry and mean. Fuck the sorrow and the guilt, she was a killing machine. And killing machines lived off of hate and anger. No emotions for them.

"What, you forgot how to speak?" she seethed, not bothering to wipe the tears away from her face. "Do I scare you, Vince?" He contemplated telling her he was happy she was better, only to scrap the idea and turn from the room, walking away. She wouldn't believe him, anyhow, and still glaring at the now empty doorframe Tejed stood and stretched, her mind still registering such patient sorrow even after her charade against Vince. Must have still been in that mindset of psychosis, she thought sullenly. The black shadows were still lingering on the edge of her vision, taunting her. Yup. Still in that mindset. She had to do something to get her mind off it and break into a happier mood, like get right drunk. So with a sigh she put a hand on her sister's shoulder and smiled weakly down at her.

"I'm…Going to wander around," she said quietly, motioning at the door. "Wanna come?" Maybe if her sister came with her the spell of insanity would lift faster. But Dejet shook her head gently and stood as well. Despite the happiness she had been trying to hold onto, Tejed felt the dead weight of the sorrow still weighing all too heavily, and at Dejet's decline it just got heavier. The hybrid forced a shuddering smile anyhow and left the room, her gait slow and unhurried. She passed Vince on her slow trip out of the ship, but instead of yelling at him all she did was sneer, and even that was half-hearted at best.

"Scary pirate lady!" The small girl saw Tejed walking by and happily clung to her leg, giggling happily. Tejed ignored her. Even the smiling face of Sarah herself couldn't help. Latching onto her dismal attitude Sarah frowned and let go, allowing the hybrid to leave the ship. She didn't like her big scary friend to be so sad, so of course she called out to her.

"Scary pirate lady, come back!" she yelled. No response. The hybrid exited the ship, narrowly missing banging her head on the low doorway. "We can play! Come back!" But Tejed was gone, and with a faint sigh Sarah turned and walked back into the ship, looking for someone to play with. Because right now, apparently, Tejed's ears were off limits. She saw Vince watching her from near an open door and smiled, running up to him.

"Uncle Vince!" she yelled, her sadness slipping away. Before he could do anything she had glomped onto his leg in much the same way she had with the hybrid. And Vince chuckled.

"Scary pirate lady won't play with me!" she said loudly, burying her face in his pant leg. "So I'll play with you!"

"Oh, is that so?" he asked, a sort of mischievous tone in his voice. He quickly glanced down the hallway leading to the exit. It was empty. The hybrid was gone. Grinning he looked back down at Sarah. "Okay, let's play a game," he said. "It's called 'facts'."

"Facts?" asked Sarah quietly, intrigued. Whether Vincent admitted it or not, and there wasn't a chance in hell he would ever admit it, he didn't like seeing someone as loathsome and insane as Tejed sad. And if he kept thinking about her it would make him sad, too. So he did the only thing he knew of to get her off his mind. He decided to play a game with Sarah. And when Vince played games, they were always annoying.

"Facts," he repeated, leaning down to Sarah's height. "And here's a good one." His smile grew bigger. "Mommy and daddy aren't making you a sister." Sarah's happy face fell, and Vince's smile widened. By default he was obnoxious, and more than anything he liked screwing with people's plans. Even when they were small children. What he didn't count on was Sarah getting all teary eyed. To the point she yelled, loudly, "Daddy!"

"Oh god, no," muttered Vince. The last thing he needed was Gin ruining his fun. "Shh, don't yell," he soothed, looking around quickly. No sign of Gin. Sarah's tears didn't abate.

"I'm telling daddy what you said!" she sobbed.

"No, don't! Don't tell him anything!" She continued to cry, and without thinking Vince blurted, "I'll pay you!" For a few seconds her crying faded and she spluttered, through the tears, "How much?" Vince brightened. Because if Sarah told Gin, Gin wouldn't be happy with Vince. And if Gin wasn't happy with him, then of course Samus would know. And if Samus knew, she wouldn't be happy, either. And where Gin would passively tell him to stop it, Samus would _forcefully_ tell him. With a kick. To the groin. So he dug in his pocket and handed the girl a glossy black credit card with his name inscribed in curling gold letters.

"More than you'll ever earn in a lifetime," he said quietly, patting her on the head. "Now be a good girl and don't tell my brother anything, okay?" The tears vanished and she smiled widely, clutching the tiny card to her chest like an invaluable treasure. A quick nod and she skipped happily down the hallway, out the main door. Vince sighed in relief and stood. Another narrow escape. A polite cough behind him. Curious he turned.

"You know you just got conned by a little girl, right?" said Dejet quietly, smirking. She had watched the whole thing. Blushing slightly that she had seen what happened he smiled, as well.

"It's just money," he said quietly. "Now, uh…" Quickly he changed his mindset into something more fitting and wrapped an arm around Dejet's waist. "What say we, you know…" She just shook her head and pushed him away.

"No, Vince." And without another word she walked away, back to her room, shaking her head. "Just…No…" Vincent couldn't understand why she would decline his generous offer, so, perplexed, he turned and walked deeper into the ship, thinking. Maybe he wasn't doing something right, he thought. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way…

And outside Gin caught sight of Tejed as she left the ship, her blank face streaked with glowing tears and her ears lower than he had ever seen them.

"…Are you alright?" he asked softly. She glared at him and curled her upper lip into a thin sneer, showing off her discoloured and stained teeth.

"I'm fine," she said softly, looking around.

"…What happened?" he inquired.

"Psychotic episode," she replied bitterly, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "I get them every once in a while." She was still on slight edge from the sudden episode, the paranoia still lingering over her mind like a hungry vulture. The sky, tinged green and shot with streaks of dark purple and black like it had been rent in twain, caught her attention and she growled at it. Her mind was still playing tricks on her and she didn't like it. She pointed a shaking claw up and took another deep breath.

"That sky better not attack me," she warned, glancing quickly at Gin. He didn't say anything. She turned her attention back to the sky and ducked suddenly, started to hyperventilate. "Okay, Tejed, get it under control," she muttered, shaking slightly. "The sky's not going to kill you…" Gin glanced up at the sky. It was empty, completely and utterly so.

"…You're still paranoid, aren't you?" he asked quietly, watching her eyes dart from one spot to another, as if she saw things that only existed to her.

"…Maybe," she replied, only to duck again and quickly scamper behind Gin for protection, putting shaking hands on his shoulders. "…Just a little…" She looked down at him with desperate eyes and he cocked an eyebrow. Instantly her look faded and she growled at him, stepping back quickly, as though she hadn't meant to actually touch him.

"I'm not crazy!" she exclaimed, more to herself than to him.

"I…Never said you were," he replied calmly, confused as to her change in behaviour. Such a simple comment, it seemed to catch her off guard and suddenly sad she stepped back, shaking her head.

"You were thinking it," she accused sadly, her ears now sitting at sorrowful 45 degree angles to her head. Gin sighed, held a hand out.

"Come on, Tejed. You know I wouldn't think that," he said kindly, trying to cheer her up. But her mood was too far gone and with a sad shake of the head she turned and left, not bothering to don her helmet and content to wander this place aimlessly. Gin just sighed and watched her huge back disappear into the milling crowds. She was damn lucky they were some of the only humans here and that the Federation was high up on the banned list, else they'd be in a lot of trouble. No; no one knew who any of them were, so for the time being, they were safe.

For the time being.

They couldn't stay here forever, they had things to do. Pirates to destroy and huge galactic federations to stop, their seedy plans no doubt already far into production. And Gin hated to think about what hideous plans they were hatching. I mean, look what they did to him! There was no telling what else they would do if given the time and the money and the Physeter. And considering they already had the Physeter _and_ the money, the time that Gin and his ramshackle 'family' wasted here only pushed the Federations plans farther and farther ahead. Gin hated to think about what they had already finished, and what they were currently working on…

"What are you thinking about, Gin?" came a sudden voice, followed by a hand on his shoulder. Despite himself he jumped, surprised, and turned, only to smile sheepishly.

"…Stuff," he replied simply, looking back into the crowds. Tejed was gone, most likely holed out at one of the bars littering this place, talking to herself and crying. And Gin hated to see her cry.

"…What kind of stuff?" asked Samus quietly. She wasn't wearing her Chozonian suit, nor the Zero Suit she tended to wear underneath. Merely a simple black top and a pair of pants, casual clothing in the warm weather of this dimension. Gin shook his head slowly, glancing up at the bright green sky.

"What kind of place is this?" he asked, pushing Tejed from his mind. She may have been a little unstable but he knew she was working on her self control, and she'd be fine if she wandered off. So he set his sights on the odd coloured sky, instead. It was like nothing he had ever seen, and that was saying something. Shattered veins of dark, dark purple and black shot through the peaceable green like broken veins, always shifting, always moving. Always changing form and taking on different hues, almost as though the sky was alive. Gin had never been in another dimension before, and it did nothing but intrigue him. Samus looked up at the chaotic sky and smiled, as though seeing an old friend.

"They call it Valhalla," she said pleasantly, flinching slightly as a sudden flash of dark purple lit the sky. Gin was not sure whether it was lighting or something else, but it was not followed by thunder, and the absolute silence unnerved him. Samus noted his confused expression and pulled him into a light hug, her arm over his shoulders.

"It takes some getting used to," she said simply, as always her voice calm and measured and with a hint of amusement. "But you'll grow to like it."

"The sky looks like it was torn in half." Samus just shrugged, smiling.

"It always looks like that," she replied curtly. "You'll get used to it." Gin wasn't so sure about that. It was too utterly weird, here. Too unlike the dimension he lovingly called home. Too different. So he continued to stare, slightly unnerved. And gently Samus shook his shoulder, pointing down a path that led away from the shipyard.

"You can stand and stare at the sky all day, Mr. Masters," she said quietly, evenly. "Or you can come with me and I can show you around. Really, it's up to you."

"Well, what about--" He was cut off. By what? By a Sarah, of course. A Sarah who said hi by wrapping herself around legs and laughing. "--Sarah…" Gin finished, gently picking up the small girl. Instantly she wrapped her arms around Gin's neck. He caught something gleaming in her hands.

"What's this, Sarah?" he asked quietly.

"Uncle Vince gave it to me!" she exclaimed. "But only if I promised not to tell you what he said…" Instantly Gin groaned, rolling his eyes. He had only just been reunited with his brother. And while he loved the man he remembered why he hated him so much sometimes. He was annoying and obnoxious. And a good man, but sometimes that trait was buried underneath everything else. So, sighing, he took the shiny object from his foster daughter's hand. And if he wasn't holding her he would have facepalmed.

"What is it?" asked Samus gently, confused.

"Apparently Vince gave her a credit card to keep her quiet," he muttered.

"…About what?"

And before Gin could open his mouth to say that he hadn't a clue Sarah blurted out, "He said you weren't making me a sister!" An awkward silence, wherein Sarah promptly held a hand to her mouth, giggling. She wasn't supposed to tell. She did anyway. But, she thought slyly, she could tell Uncle Vince she had kept her promise…

"But Uncle Vince told me not to say that…" She trailed off and cast glances at both her foster parents, trying to read their expressions. She couldn't, so she did the next best thing. Smiling hopefully she hugged Gin tight. "Are you making me a sister?!"

"…About that…" muttered Gin, looking up at Samus. Sighing she smiled and nodded at him. They seriously needed to talk.

"After the match?" she said quietly, draping an arm across his shoulders and ruffling Sarah's hair.

"After the match," Gin agreed. And Sarah hugged them both.

~*~

Gin had been right. Tejed had found the first open bar she could and set up shop there, drowning her sorrow in alcohol. At first she had been hesitant about wandering around without her helmet, for if she had attempted such a thing on Earth, which she had, she'd get attacked and locked away. Humans didn't take too kindly to Pirates, even if the pirate in question was still human on some fundamental level. But this place was different. She got a few odd looks, but nothing terrible. Nothing loathing.

Nobody hated her here.

And the bar was where she had been when her name had been called on the loudspeakers, and intrigued, she had looked up. Gin hadn't been kidding when he said it was a tournament. Apparently she was the first one up. Against…Someone named Bowser? She had snorted at the huge picture of her opponent displayed on one of the numerous huge screens littering this area. He was overly brawny and looked none too efficient in the brains category. But then, shortly after, her face had been displayed, and disgusted she had looked away. It was even more hideous up on the big screens than it was reflected back to her on a polished surface, and she absolutely hated that. Every bump, bruise, scrape, scar, gash and fresh bleeding wound had been magnified to a thousand times, projected over the entire tournament base.

And there was a good chance a hell of a lot of people had either looked away, as well, or laughed at her grotesque features. So, ashamed, she had buried her face in her arms, hiding it from the world, covering it with darkness and whispy white hair. For a few precious seconds, she had been at peace. Until the cameras came on propeller blades and urged her awake, chattering incessantly in her sensitive ears about how she was going to be late for her match and she had to get up now.

"Fuck off…" she had muttered, too ashamed to face the world, gently swatting at them. They continued to chatter, and annoyed, she glared at them.

"Thirty minutes to match begin, Ms. Jenal!" they hummed, and their insistence of using her last name reminded her of the voice. Which made her even less likely to follow their orders.

"Don't go back to sleep!" they pleaded, one of the cameras gently poking her with a mobile arm. "Come to the match, please!"

"And let everyone laugh at me?" she retorted, her voice hushed from the alcohol. "No thank you."

"But you might win!" they begged. "Wouldn't you like that, Ms. Jenal?"

"Stop calling me that." For a few moments the hovering cameras were silent, their controllers on the other side weighing their options. Just as Tejed was. This was a tournament, no? Fight to the top, beat the champion, walk away the victor? She liked the idea. But…Did she really want to go through with it? Violence for the sake of entertainment? A fight for the sake of fighting? Wake up the voice that lived inside her head and possibly end up doing something she regretted?

"Nobody can get hurt here!" one of the cameras said, as though reading her mind. Apparently they sensed her apprehension. She was, after all, a newcomer.

"There's no chance of anything bad happening!" reassured the other. So hesitantly the hybrid had pushed her drink away and slowly stood, muttering a quiet "fine" as the cameras led her to the designated spot. Maybe it would get her mind off her abhorrent excuse for a life, she thought resentfully. Maybe it would make her feel better. After all, in some primal way she hated to acknowledge, she did enjoy fighting.

And that's how she found herself up in the center of the floating arena, staring across at the Bowser she had only seen in pictures. And he looked mean. But there was a crowd watching her, yelling. And instead of laughing at her they were apparently cheering her on. She was a newcomer, and she looked mean. They wanted a good fight. And, true to thought, it made her feel better. So, still glaring at Bowser, she opened her mouth, and yelled.

"You want a fight?" she muttered, casting baleful eyes over the crowd. They didn't seem to catch the bitter resentment in her voice, leaking from her face, and continued to cheer. "I'll give you bastards a fight…" She raised her arms in the air and screamed.

"I shall WIN!!"

Arms held high in the air and head thrown back. She liked the crowds. They made her happy. She abandoned her sorrow. "NOW SCREAM _MY NAME_!!" And, thrown into a slight frenzy by her exuberance, the crowd complied. Tejed drank in their screams and yells and shouts, driven into ecstasy from the almost primal sound of her name being yelled again and again. The crowd loved her. And she loved their attention, unbridled as it was.

"Yes, yell louder," she whispered harshly, finally lowering her arms and casting her fevered glance at her opponent, allowing a twisted grin to snake across her face. "Give me your _power_…" A step forward, a cocked head and a raspy, "Are you ready to die?" She snickered. She was already having fun, and the fighting hadn't even started yet.

"But…There's no killing here," replied her opponent, vaguely disturbed by her. In response she shrugged.

"That's what they think…"

And without warning she launched into the battle, claws poised and ready, awaiting the feel of talons slicing through flesh. She hadn't had any delicious carnage to revel in for too long and it was starting to itch underneath her skin like a colony of voracious insects intent on eating her from the inside out. Anything to quell the sensation, she thought madly, no doubt grinning at the thought. _Anything_.

And, like she had wanted, had been _craving_, her talons came down hard and fast on supple flesh, tearing through easily and efficiently. She giggled, already starting to lose it, her eye starting to twitch.

"OW God _damn_ _it_!" Bowser screamed, hastily running backwards, his arm held timidly. A thin and deep gash ran down his forearm, though where it would have leaked fresh blood onto the stadium floor, instead the wound lay bloodless, exposed to the air and seeping nothing. Tejed held back, confused. The crowd continued to cheer, continued to yell her name. She did not hear them.

"Do you like the pain?" she inquired lowly, ignoring the fact that she hadn't drawn any blood. Already the wound was healing, but Bowser still seamed to be in pain, and while there was no blood his pain was good enough. She held her body in a slouched over yet ready to leap into action sort of stance, bobbing up and down gently on strong mechanical legs. Feeling suddenly very frightened Bowser quickly shook his great head and tried to back up. His heavy foot came down on nothing and he jumped forwards, glancing back. End of the line; edge of the arena. Thirty foot drop to the ground far below.

"I don't like pain," he muttered, wondering why he wasn't up against that damnable plumber he hated so much instead of this green-skinned white-haired whack-job. He absolutely did not like her and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. Pushing aside the fact that she had caused him physical harm, she was also very disturbing, and Bowser was certain something was broken in that vicious toothed head of hers. Insanity scared him something awful. A mind as broken as the body it was housed in? He shivered at the thought and forced an awkward smile at the hybrid, who, just as he feared, smiled right back.

"Big wuss," she spat, still grinning at him. She held her ground, claws clenching and unclenching in anticipation. "Let a little pain get you all down? Wanna go cry to your _mommy_? Want her to kiss your wounds and tuck you in at night? Keep the _demons_ at bay?" A few audience members snickered at her taunts, amused by her harsh and bitter personality. Hurt Bowser let go his arm and stood straight, the wound healed. He may not have enjoyed pain, but he liked insults even _worse_.

"I'm not a wuss," he muttered, trying but failing to stare her down. A stare into her eyes only got him a stare right back, and her yellow eyes frightened him.

"Fine, you're not a wuss," she agreed, still eyeing the spot where the gash had been mere moments earlier. Must have been a tournament thing, Tejed thought sullenly. She decided she hated it, the fact that there was to be no blood here, no indication of the pain she could cause. And without the blood that she loved so very much, where was the fun? Oh, that's right, she could still _hurt_ him. So she did what she was good at, besides hurting things: insulting people. Hurt him mentally as well as physically. "You're a _loser_," she hissed, grinning. "Loser loser loser! You're a LOSER!"

"I'm not a loser," Bowser grumbled, growing more and more annoyed by her antics.

"WIMP!!" she screamed, quite suddenly. "Scared by a little PAIN! Wimpy McWimpington! The THIRD! _TWICE REMOVED_!!" A fit of maniacal laughter, almost enough to bring Tejed to her knees, the crowd laughing right along. To say they had never seen a fight quite like this, with so much insults and verbal abuse, was putting it lightly. And despite the audience having a roaring good time, Bowser was downright humiliated, to the point that he forgot the pain in his arm and took a heavy step forward, throwing his chest out and squaring his shoulders.

"I'll show you who's the wimp!" he roared, unfazed by Tejed's laughter. "I'll show you who's the _loser_, here! I'll show you PAIN!" In the face of such vehemence all she did was smile, her laughter fading away.

"Pain is my best friend," she hissed gleefully, taking up a fighting stance. And he charged her, a slow moving fortress of spikes and bone and raw power. Instead of blocking or dodging Tejed shed her fighting stance and held her arms wide, smiling, anxious to embrace her old friend pain. And embrace her it did, in the form of the heavy turtle tackling her to the ground and stomping her face into the concrete. The audience fell silent. Their great Tejed, erratic and vulgar that she was, defeated so easily?

"Is pain your best friend _now_?!" he yelled angrily, his foot stamping into her armoured chest. She would have coughed up a lungful of blood, the corrosive liquid burning her mouth as it dribbled out, but instead she grinned and coughed, gurgled, her head falling sideways so she could stare at one of the huge holo-screens ringing the arena.

"Pain is always my friend," she rasped, feeling the laughter rising up. One of the cameras flew right up to her and stared intently at her beaten face, projecting the image onto one of the screens along with a small damage bar near the bottom. It read a damage percentile of eighty and rising, and all she did was smile, for she realized at that point in time that she no longer hated pain. She had learned to accept it.

"Now get off of me you freak," she hissed, turning her attention back to the Koopa King. He sneered down at her, sure of his imminent victory.

"Or what?" he jeered, pushing his foot harder into her chest. She felt the thick steel of the chest piece starting to buckle under the strain, pushing into her ribs and her breasts, but she ignored it. The pain no longer bothered her. Too much time spent getting hurt and killing things saw to that.

"Or I'll have to kill you," she hissed, morbidly amused by this fight. "There's exactly one thing I knew about you right off the bat. You know what it is?" Bowser paused, confused, some of his weight coming off his foot. Though he said nothing, the look of utter confusion on his face was enough and Tejed breathed, saying her words slowly, "You're _stupid_." And before the implications of her words sunk in she reached up, grabbed him by the ivory horns, and pulled his head down, rolling sideways at the last second and forcing his monstrous face into the concrete arena. Something hard crunched and he cried out in pain, that friend that _he_ didn't like.

"Stupid like a fox!" Tejed yelled, releasing her hold on his horns so she could in turn wrap her too long arms around his neck. The crowd had started cheering again. "A really stupid fox with no brain! You know why it has no brain? I _ripped the fucker out!!"_ Tejed was good at laughing, the slowly growing insanity had seen to that. So good at it in fact that way up in the stands, in a little private seating arrangement jutting out from the rest of the seats, Gin just facepalmed and shook his head, her maniacal laughter echoing around the entire stadium as she took Bowser by the neck and somehow managed to throw him to the other side of the arena. He staggered to his feet, dazed, as Tejed readied her shoulder cannon and fired off a quick shot. It connected with Bowser's right shoulder and sent him staggering backwards.

"Careful, you ugly turtle," she taunted, lining up her cannon with his head. "I might hit something important."

"You shut up!" he yelled, once again taking a fighting stance. He looked determined and hurt, not physically but emotionally. "You're one to talk you hideous freak! You look like you've been _dead_ for a _million_ _years_!" Silence, both from Tejed and the crowds.

"…Did you just…_Insult_ me?" she asked quietly. Bowser was right angered, fuming like a bull ready to charge. The audience was dead silent, awaiting her response.

"You're darn tootin' I insulted you!" he roared, using the most archaic insults she had ever heard, which, in some round about way, she actually found insulting. He was trying to insult her, and he was going about it in a grade school teacher sort of way. If someone was going to yell at someone they might as well use vulgar swears and offensive words that cut deep to the bone.

"Where do you get off calling me ugly when you look like you crawled out of a landfill?!" he continued, undaunted. "You're covered in scars and cuts and bruises I don't even want to know where they came from and I have no idea what you're even supposed to be! And you SMELL BAD!" She snorted to herself, amused.

"What do I smell like?" she inquired, folding back her shoulder cannon. This hackneyed attempt at making her feel bad amused her. He floundered for a few minutes, trying to find the right words.

"You smell like--like…You smell like DEATH!" he screeched, almost pulling out his short fiery hair out of sheer frustration. "Steel! Decay! You're like a--A--You're like a rotting corpse covered in blood and I can't stand being near you!"

"Oh stop, you're flattering me," was Tejed's amused response, her top lip peeled back into her patented sadistic grin. The crowd liked her reply and started cheering again. They were here for the show, and Tejed was putting on one hell of a show. Without hesitation Bowser charged at her, her inconsistent behaviour infuriating him.

"You're CRAZY!" he yelled, intent on throwing her from the arena and emerging the victor. Laughing Tejed easily dodged him, jumping a quick foot to the right. He thundered past like a runaway train, a fighting style that reminded her a bit too much of the one she liked to pull whenever she was in that training room with Gin. The maddening itch in her veins escalated and she could feel the side of her face start to twitch, her grin for a second fading. Something was wrong, she realized with growing dread. The itch should have been sated by the fighting, but it hadn't. It was still there, as strong as ever, and it demanded release.

"_Let me out,"_ whispered the voice quietly, speaking up after a few hours of blessed quiet. Far at the other end of the arena Bowser finally slowed to a stop and turned, heavy footfalls shaking the floating platform of the arena. He started to run, gaining speed, coming in for another charge.

"_Let me help you end this,"_ the voice persisted. _"Stop the spread of corruption…" _

"You just fuck off and stay in your cage," snapped Tejed, momentarily forgetting about Bowser. A violent mental push and she no longer felt the itch in her veins nor heard the sweet whisperings of the voice inside her head, and for the time being the voice obliged, slinking away to the cage Tejed had constructed for it so very long ago. A moment later Bowser tackled her heavily back to the ground again, this time making a point to grab one of her arms and hold his other hand around her neck, keeping her pinned. She smiled, this time the broken grin that plastered her face disturbingly innocent.

"Does the big bad Bowser want to win?" she rasped, his hand tightening around her neck. "Can't stand losing, can he?" she continued, laughing a low and husky laugh. "Does it remind him of who he is? Of who he's running away from…?"

"Shut up!" he yelled, coming perilously close to punching her in the face.

"Or what, you'll punch me?" she hissed. "You'll break my face? My nose has already been broken upwards of four times. I've faceplanted with more concrete than I can remember. There was that time my neck was broken. That was fun. Or am I just too hideous for you to look at? To the point you don't feel regret if you hurt me…?"

"Shut up," Bowser said, quieter, feeling close to tears. No. He wouldn't cry. Not here in front of this bundle of pure _insanity_. Not here with untold millions watching his every move.

"You want to cry, don't you?" Tejed observed, watching him from her vantage point on the ground. Instantly his hand tightened, constricting her airway even more. When she next spoke it sounded like diseased air trying to escape from a ridiculously thin crack, hissing on a warm breeze desperate to break out. "But you can't because they'll laugh," she continued softly, breath whistling in her throat. "The big strong barricade you've created for yourself will be ruthlessly torn asunder and there's _nothing you can do about it_. If only they would let you…_Cry_…"

"I said _shut_ _up_!" Bowser yelled, finally letting lose and landing her a good fist in the face. His savage attack met with soft laughter.

"Are you scared?" Tejed hissed, her nose once again broken. And only after it had just healed, too. Quickly Bowser shook his head. Nobody in their right mind would continue to taunt him after such an attack, would continue to breath and live and stay conscious.

"I'm not scared." He was terrified. Not of her, but of what she was saying, because he knew it was true.

"No, you're scared," she persisted, staring him right in the eyes from a broken face. "The only question is, are you scared of _me_? Or _them_?" She managed to turn her head to the side and stare purposely at the audience, all of their eyes trained on the two fighters in the center of the arena. Instantly Bowser scrambled to his feet, letting her go. She took a sudden and deep breath, her neck aching and her face in a gratuitous amount of pain. Something rattled in her throat like a piece of broken machinery as she found her feet. And always the absence of the blood that by this time would be dripping from her face and eating tiny rivulets in her suit did nothing but unnerve her, infuriate her. It was almost enough to drive her into a rage but she controlled herself.

"So I'm going to just up and lose, okay?" Bowser offered, no longer willing to fight someone as unpredictable, and brutally honest, as Tejed. Her smile faded and she gave a deliberate stretch, spine popping and cracking, a moment later cocked her head to the side and stared curiously at him, a hideous face like a questioning puppy.

"Why?" she asked simply. Despite the lack of blood she was enjoying this battle, enjoying playing with her opponent's mind in such an insidious way. Her abrupt question caught the Koopa King off guard and, in a lapse of judgement, he let up his defences.

"Why?" he parroted, confused. "You're crazy! You almost killed me!"

"Oh, I did, did I?" she said quietly, glancing down at her claws, dearly wishing they were coated in Bowser's blood. "Crazy, eh? Did I ever tell you how much I hate that word? How much I can't _stand_ that word? Did I ever tell you, that I'm _not_ crazy?" Hand in front of her face she looked back at Bowser, staring between fingers stained with the blood of countless bounties past. Before Bowser could respond to her enigmatic questioning she burst into laughter, once again confusing the hell out of him with her erratic behaviour.

"Who the hell am I kidding?!" she yelled. "I'm fucking BROKEN! Mind?! WHAT _MIND_?!! I'm a FUCKING _PSYCHO_!! Look, Bowser, your blood could be _right here_!" He watched in horror as she proceeded to crack open her bottom jaw in a fashion Bowser did not know was possible, coiling her black tongue around her fingers as if to say 'Hey, look! Next time I do draw blood I'll lick it right off!' Slowly he shook his head, seriously contemplating jumping from the arena. The pain kept resurfacing though, and as much of a façade of resilience he put on, Bowser was not too fond of pain, to the point he'd rather be up here than falling to the ground, so very far below. And that was saying something, because her apparent immunity to such pain he had put her through made him want to be on the other side of the galaxy.

"Seriously, though," Tejed growled, closing her jaw and letting her hand hang limply by her side. Her bloodless face was even more smashed and broken than usual but she didn't seem to care. Or even notice. "I'm not crazy."

"I think you're in denial," Bowser retorted quickly. Unheeded her grin came back and she began to close the gap between them, walking slowly and with purpose. She said nothing and Bowser did the only thing he knew how when faced with such a situation: he started to talk.

"You don't want to hurt me," he pleaded, unable to run because he knew she could easily catch him. He was big and slow and clumsy. And while Tejed was around the same height and weight, she was far more agile than he could ever hope to be. "I'm just a big dumb turtle…Thing. I'm just here for the fun, y'know? To get away from the rigours of every day life? Oh god, please don't kill me…"

"I like to kill things," Tejed rasped. "I like to hurt things. I like to cause pain and suffering and misery. Die for me, Bowser. Please…"

"I think you just want friends!" he cried. She stopped in front of him and stared, cold and calculating, his misery oh so very delicious.

"Friends are nice," she agreed quietly. Excited that he had gotten through to her he smiled franticly, hopeful.

"I'll be your friend!" he exclaimed, starting to jabber on in a vain attempt to save his life. It sickened Tejed, it sickened her to the core. His happiness. His fake attempts at friendship. She'd love to kill him, to gut him slowly and watch his pain kill his life-spark. She'd love that oh so very much, the pleasure derived from his torture. And even though she sorely wanted to she simply couldn't. Because he did not deserve it. And smile fading into a hardened sneer she leaned forwards and cut off his terrified blathering with a heavy breath to his face.

"Get off the arena," she hissed. "Before I _kill_ you." He gulped, opened his mouth to reply. A bright flash like lightning lit the arena and a silver floating ball with the tournament insignia etched into the side suddenly sprang into existence between them. Instantly Tejed jumped back, surprised and frightened of this strange floating thing. She pointed a shaking claw at it.

"Wh-what is that?" she stammered. Without warning it jerked towards her and she jumped a few more feet back, before it lazily floated back to a stationary position, hovering a few feet above the ground. It floated, moving erratically as if it possessed sentience, yet it was nothing more than a simple steel ball, a tool. A contrivance. Bowser's eyes had lit up at the sight of both it, and the fact that it had driven his opponent away.

"It's power," he whispered, watching her stare at it as though hypnotized. And maybe she was. Bowser had no idea what those bastard yellow eyes saw. All he saw was a chance. So he leapt at the ball, breaking it open with one overly strong swipe from his sharpened claws. It shattered with a sharp metallic clang, bathing Bowser in hot white light. Tejed covered her sensitive eyes, the light almost but not quite blinding her. When she opened them she no longer saw the Bowser she had more or less beaten, she saw a monster, covered in spikes and bladed and huge fangs.

"Oh, shit…" she muttered, wondering why she hadn't killed him. Oh yeah, because she had a spurt of that disease called _kindness_. And now she was no longer faced with a whiny wimp of a turtle, she was faced with a fifteen foot tall fang faced mouth dripping drool whiny wimp of a turtle. And he didn't look all that happy. Any normal person would hold their hands up in defeat and call it quits. Tejed managed a broken smile, her face twitching and the itch rising. This was as good a time as any to enter Berserker mode, so she did just that.

Only to realize with dread that she couldn't. It was sitting at the back of her mind, the failsafe. The floodgates. But they wouldn't move. For a second she felt rushing panic, and the voice laughed at her weak attempts to access the failsafe, though in some way it seemed to the hybrid that the voice was worried, too. Though it said nothing.

"Die," rumbled Bowser angrily, his deep bass voice echoing around the arena.

"I can't enter Berserker," Tejed muttered quietly, taking a step back. Her veins were burning. "I can't…Why can't…Why…?" Never before had she longed so much for the disconcerting sensation of her eyes bursting into Phazon infused flame and her vision reddening around the edges. Never before, as Bowser bowled into her and forced her to the ground, bringing his dagger claws down quick and fast and with much more force than was necessary, did she want to embrace the insanity she hated so much.

"…Voice, help me," she whispered, doing the one thing she had though she would never do: ask the voice for help.

"…_I can't…"_ it replied enigmatically. A claw to her face, a new wound without blood. The voice didn't seem fazed by Tejed asking such a question. Quite the contrary. It seemed oh so very sad. And to accentuate its point it, too, tugged at the failsafe, which did not move in the slightest. It was almost as though it was bolted into place.

"_They've done something to us, Ms. Jenal. I can't help…" _

Bowser continued his attack on the hybrid with single minded intensity, leaving her with a new batch of wounds that would heal into a fresh set of scars crisscrossing her face like a web of pain. And Tejed was not pleased. She would not go down so easily. So what if the voice inside her head couldn't help, so what if the failsafe was bolted and nailed into place with no hope of opening. She didn't rely on Berserker mode alone. She had other things up her sleeve to help her in such a dilemma.

She grabbed Bowser's overly huge hand as it came down, stopping it haltingly. Bowser's face showed surprise, then rage. The hand came down, anyhow, Tejed was not strong enough. His claws glanced off her armour. And then the smash ball faded and with a startled gasp Bowser was forcefully reverted back to his old form. His old wimpy form. He gulped. Tejed grinned.

"Get the fuck off me," she seethed, getting her feet up against his chest. She gave a savage kick and sent him flying right over the edge of the arena before stumbling to her feet. She was the victor. The crowd cheered and she smiled, raising her arms. Maybe after, she thought. Maybe when all was said and done here she'd celebrate with a bounty. Lay waste to a pirate vessel, go on a killing spree. It would be nice, she mused sullenly. To go into a blood rage without consequence.

"Yell my name," she whispered harshly, soaking in the crowd's exuberance. She smiled. "Yell my name…" They complied, her simple two syllable name echoing around the arena. A deep breath and Tejed opened her eyes, washing them without care over the crowds. Her eyes landed on a jutting overhang a little ways up, a private seating arrangement for spectators and fighters of importance. Like Mr. Gin Phoenix/Masters and her friends. And who was that she saw, watching the fight from far far above? Gin and Samus and her sister, Vince beside his brother and Sarah perched happily in Gin's arms. Smiling Tejed waved at them, and Sarah was the only one who waved back. She looked ecstatic that Tejed had won her first fight. Everyone else looked happy, except for Dejet, and frowning Tejed noticed her expression: mild disgust. So, sadly, the hybrid turned and walked to the edge of the arena, awaiting the teleportation that would take her back to the ground. And she didn't look back.

~*~

A fight. A fight for the thrill of fighting. On a stage. Being watched by untold millions. Gin wasn't a shy man, far from it. He didn't care all that much about his image and when it came to showing off his skills he was always confident. Then why did he feel so nervous out here, the target of everyone's eyes? Maybe he was still on edge, knowing that he was a wanted man, chased by the Federation. Samus had assured him that, because the Federation was such a chaotic group, that they were not allowed here. And Gin trusted her.

"Valhalla," he muttered absently, awaiting his opponent in the middle of the floating arena. "What a name. What a name, indeed..."

Samus had told him some more of what to expect while they were watching Tejed during her fight. Apparently something about this dimension, whether it was a natural or wholly artificial phenomena, short circuited exactly one key ability in each of the fighters. Something about making the fight more fair, about making the fight more interesting when the appropriate 'smash ball' was, well, smashed. And then and only then did whatever suppressed power or ability see the bright green light of day.

It explained why Tejed was unable to enter Berserker mode.

But then, what in hell's name did it suppress in Gin? He was dead sure all he could do was some fancy sword techniques. He was strong, yes, but that was the Physeter. Maybe somehow it cut out his Physeter and made him weak. But he didn't feel weak…

A loud announcement cut thought the cheering crowds, proclaiming his opponent who had finally arrived. He appeared opposite Gin in the middle of the arena in a flash of light: the teleporters, and Gin smirked.

"Nice to finally meet you, Falco," he said, a hand outstretched. Falco sneered and instantly smacked it away, stepping back and brushing his hand off.

"Name's Lombardi," he said, his voice carrying a distinct Brooklyn accent. "And I'm not here to be your friend." At that Gin shrugged and drew his katana, stepping back as well. He may have still been hesitant about this fight; there was, after all, a Federation doing who knows what back on Earth; but for the time being he was safe from them. So he took Samus' advice and decided to just have fun. Whatever the Federation decided to throw at him could wait until the Tournament was over.

"Ready to lose, Mr. _Phoenix_?" the bird sneered, his attitude already beginning to rub Gin the wrong way. Falco was just like his elegantly gelled crest of blue feathers: extravagant and cocky. And, as his demeanour imposed, not too much of a challenge. But Gin liked challenges, so he hoped his thoughts proved otherwise.

"I'm ready to win," the hunter replied casually, awaiting the green light that would signal the start of the match. Apparently his nonchalant attitude managed to rub Falco the wrong way, and at his words the bird bristled, grabbing a laser pistol holstered to his side.

"We'll see about that," he muttered, taking up a fighting stance. Gin did the same, and not a second after the starting chime rang through the air Falco charged him, initiating the fight with an insanely quick dash. Gin moved a little too slow, caught off guard by the sudden movement. As a result Falco managed to clip his side, almost but not quite throwing the hunter to the ground. Gin grinned, finding his balance again. Looked like Falco was going to be a challenge, after all. And not just an arrogant bird who liked to move his mouth.

"Off to a roaring start, _Gin_," Falco taunted, turning on the other side of the arena. "You actually going to use that fancy knife, or is it just for intimidation?" And in a flash Gin pulled the exact same stunt, only faster and deadlier. Falco flinched, a sharp quick pain erupting in his arm. When he looked down a single bead of blood fell from his sliced arm, only to instantly heal. He looked back up. Gin was gone.

"It's for more than intimidation," came an Australian voice from behind him. Falco jumped, spinning on the spot, instantly angry.

"Where the hell did you learn that?!" Gin smirked.

"An old friend."

"Whatever you can do, I can do better!" Falco yelled. And up in the seats Fox McCloud, waiting patiently for his fight and watching, just shook his head and muttered, "You cocky arrogant son of a bitch. I hope you lose." Falco was a damn good pilot. But he was also damn arrogant. And Fox hoped this newcomer showed him some much needed reality. Maybe then Falco would stop spouting his mouth off ever time they went somewhere.

But back to the fight at hand. As if to proclaim how much better he was than Gin Falco performed another quick dash of his own, this time managing to clip the hunter a little more forcefully. Thinking on the spot Gin somehow managed to get an arm around Falco's back, to hold him tight. But, not one to be confined, Falco initiated a quick spin attack, using the feathers on his arms like bladed. Surprised Gin let go and jumped back. Falco followed dutiful suit.

"Ready to give up, yet?!" yelled the bird. Gin grinned and shook his head, and infuriated Falco drew his pistol, firing off a quick five rounds. Where he expected the charged shots to land on his opponent they instead fizzled in the air halfway between them, and, angered, Falco tried again. Same result. And from what he had seen Gin hadn't moved.

"What the--Stop cheating!" Falco yelled angrily. He tried once more, this time not holding back and firing off a volley of red laser. And this time he saw what was going on. Gin, with his mechanical arm, had whipped out his pistol and fired off matching shots of his own, intercepting each and every shot in the blink of an eye. And what did it accomplish? Well, apart from receiving no damage, it caused Falco's jaw to drop before he exploded in a sudden fit of anger.

"Where the hell did you get that pistol?!!" Falco screamed, stomping his feet angrily upon the stage. Gin just shrugged and replied quietly, "Federation. Modified it myself."

"But--Who--What--" Falco stuttered, at a loss for words. "--Nobody can fire that fast!!" Gin just shrugged absently again, a simple gesture that Falco was beginning to hate more and more.

"I can," was the simple reply. Falco ground his teeth together in rage. Not only was his opponent frustratingly calm; Falco liked the enraged reactions he got out of his opponents; ha had also rendered Falco's only long range weapon obsolete. And Falco absolutely hated that.

"I--You--" he spluttered again, his grasp of the English language mysteriously failing him. "--I'll win, anyway!" And Gin just smirked.

"I'd like to see you try."

"I'll make you eat those words!" Falco pointed an accusing gun at Gin, who merely stared him down, enjoying himself. A flash of brilliant white, like quick lightning without the thunder, illuminated the stage, and both of them looked up. A smash ball. The same thing that had rendered Bowser huge and imposing and mean now hovered gently above both their heads. And before Gin could react Falco had already fired off a barrage of laser fire and jumped at the floating ball, the strength from an upward kick breaking it right open.

This was interesting, thought Gin with a vague smile. Falco landed hard on the floating arena and grinned up at Gin, a surge of vaguely electrical technology surrounding him. It coalesced into a huge tank with an equally huge cannon on the front, its jutting fins painted a royal shade of blue that matched Falco's feathers. The cannon pointed at Gin. Falco laughed.

"I've got the upper hand!" he yelled triumphantly, allowing the cannon to charge. The resulting charged beam was three Gins wide and three Gins tall, and, surprisingly, or maybe not considering what the Federation had done to him, Gin evaded it. The white hot ball of concentrated energy from Falco's Landmaster Tank left a scorching black furrow in the ground. Gin sort of eyed it sideways while keeping tabs on Falco. If that blast connected with him it could do a hell of a lot of damage.

"Stand still!" yelled Falco from the cockpit, now firing off round after round at the defenceless hunter. Gin could tell Falco was getting angrier and angrier, judging by one: his furious voice, and two: the fact that the tanks charged shots were getting more and more erratic. More unpredictable. So when Gin dodged backwards, narrowly missing getting scorched, one right behind it smacked him full on in the chest, knocking the wind from his lungs and sending him to the ground with a seared suit.

"Pain…" he muttered, glancing sideways at one of the huge screens. His displayed damaged percentage jumped up by an easy seventy percent. Gin had been right. Very powerful. Falco laughed triumphantly and aimed for another blast at the downed hunter. For a few seconds Gin could not move, and he closed his eyes, let out a deep breath. So he'd lose on his first match. There was always next time. But the shot never came and confused he leaned up. In the same fashion that it had appeared, the hulking tank disintegrated, as though all along it had been nothing more than an elaborate hologram. And at that Gin smiled and finally found the strength to climb to his feet. Ten seconds. The tank had lasted for exactly ten seconds. He could exploit that.

"Get that smile off your face!" yelled Falco angrily. The fact that Gin was still here, and standing, no less, infuriated him something awful. In response Gin readied his katana and stood his ground. Disregarding his own safety Falco charged him. It wasn't that dash he liked to pull off, it was simply a charge. Kind of like something Tejed would pull off if she got pissed off enough. It was a straightforward attack, and not putting anything else into consideration Gin raised his sword.

At the last second Falco parried around him and landed a kick to the small of Gin's back a split second before kicking his legs out from underneath him. Gin fell, but not before spinning himself around and slicing at Falco's exposed legs. Falco didn't see it coming. Instead of cutting Gin angled it to the flat of his blade connected with the bird's leg. No slicing today. A jolt of electricity would suffice just fine. A jolt of bright blue lightning that brought Falco to his knees. Sure he had seen the electricity dancing across Gin's blade but he had dismissed it as a fanciful effect, not actual electricity.

Another flash in such a short time, signalling the arrival of another smash ball. Out of commission Falco could do nothing except watch as Gin leapt to his feet and raced to the ball, eager to grab the object and smash it open. Gin wasn't exactly looking forward to another tank fight, anyhow.

"That smash ball is mine!" he yelled leaping up at it with his sword ready. Grinning wildly and pumped up by adrenaline Falco shot at the hunter then the smash ball, eager to break it open. Even though his legs refused to work he could still use his gun. But he was not quick enough nor strong enough. Gin's katana met with the smash ball, the blue electricity surrounding it before breaking it open with an almost gentle metallic clang. Gin fell back to the ground and looked up at Falco, a bright blue light that turned by slow degrees into soft navy surrounding him. It only dawned on him a few seconds later that he had no idea what the smash ball would do. He knew it unlocked latent abilities that had been somehow shut off in this dimension, like Tejed's berserker mode. What he did not know was what latent ability he had that the ball would activate. What if he didn't have one? Would it just randomly do something? Maybe it would summon his ship. Maybe it would summon Hackbot. Hackbot would be a good final smash, Gin mused. He could annoy the opponent while he got ready to finish them off.

But instead something he hadn't been expecting happened. The suit protecting his right arm broke away, revealing his mechanical prosthetic, the thick block connected to a chain he had used once before falling with a heavy clunk to the ground. Gin grinned and glanced up at Falco. The bird stared right back, flabbergasted. He sputtered for a few seconds, trying to find his words.

"You have a mechanical arm?!" he yelled finally. Now he understood why Gin could whip out that damn laser pistol of his so fast. Didn't mean he liked it.

"I'm afraid I do," replied Gin, starting to swing the block over his head, allowing it to catch momentum. Up in the stands, in the same VIP seating that Gin had been in earlier, Tejed was watching, sort of half interested. And then Gin grabbed that smash ball, and revealed his chain-blade, and suddenly wide awake Tejed grabbed at her throat and shied away. She still had that scar across her neck from her last exciting adventure with Gin's mechanical arm and seeing it again scared her something awful. Samus, sitting near her, noticed her terrified expression and leaned over, patting her gently on the shoulder.

"It's alright, hybrid," she said softly. "Gin's down there and we're up here. You're safe." In her arms Sarah giggled at Tejed's fear and reached over, grabbing her ears.

"You can't be scared!" she said happily. "You're the scary pirate lady!"

"I'm allowed to be afraid…" Tejed whispered harshly, ignoring the small girl pulling on her torn and tattered ears, threatening to tear out the small tag she routinely forgot she had dangling from her right ear. Far down below, on the arena, Gin's chain blade, the blade stripped bare and now nothing more than a glorified paper weight, had reached its top speed. And Falco, his legs just now regaining their functionality after such a painful shock, scrambled up and aimed his gun with shaking hands. No matter what he did, he realized with growing dread, he'd still meet that heavy block face to face. He suddenly found his arrogance stripped away. He was afraid.

"Afraid?" asked Gin, as though reading his mind. The block continued to swing. It was almost mesmerizing how such a heavy object could remain seemingly weightless, kept aloft by nothing more than a misleadingly thin chain. Falco wiped the fear from his face and shook his head, defiant.

"Never," he replied.

"Is that so?" asked Gin quietly. "Because fear is crucial to survival. And if I were in your place I'd be afraid." Silence from Falco's side. It was only when he realized that the heavy block was no longer swinging over Gin's head and now making a steady beeline for his head that he finally got his wits about him and moved. A second too late. Instead of colliding with his head the block whipped neatly past his form, and for a second Falco's old arrogance resurfaced, for he thought Gin had missed.

"You call that a Final Smash?!" he yelled, smirking. Grinning Gin gave his wrist a quick snap to the side, brining the block around Falco. The chain collided with his side and the inertia kept the block going all the way around. Surprised Falco let out a distinct squawk, the chain wrapping around his body and holding him in place. Another flick of the wrist, a quick backward yank, and Falco was pulled forwards, into Gin's waiting blade.

"I call that a Final Smash," Gin confirmed, finishing the arrogant bird off with a downward slash from his sword. No blood, of course. This was a family friendly fight. Instead Falco felt an immense amount of pain, his damage percentile rocketing up to the triple digits. Not quite done just yet Gin got a diagonal slice in, followed quickly by a savage sideways slash before kicking Falco away. The chain attached to his arm shattered and fell away. The heavy block fell to the ground. In immense pain but shrugging it off Falco shakily stood and shot Gin a malicious glare.

"This isn't over," he seethed angrily, shakily unsheathing his gun. Glancing up at the screens Gin could see that he was sitting at around eighty percent damage, while Falco wavered at two hundred. No wonder the bird could hardly stand.

"I'd say give up," started Gin. Falco was having a hard time holding his gun. "But from what I've seen that's not going to happen."

"Can't…Lose…" Falco breathed, staggering forwards a few steps. And then what could only be surmised as a stroke of pure luck happened. Simultaneously, as though choreographed by some higher power, another smash ball appeared. And while it had phased into existence on the far side of the arena, right in front of tattered and broken Falco had appeared a heart container, a glimmering heart shaped jewel that in the space of a few short seconds Falco leapt at with what little strength he had left and broke open. Instantly his damage percentile fell down to a clean zero and he stood proud, no longer injured.

"Falco doesn't lose," he sneered, back to his old arrogant self. The smash ball, erratic in behaviour and hard to predict, made a sudden dash towards Falco, and jumping on his chance he ran towards it and gave it a good hard kick, all while Gin was simply too stunned by this turn of event to intercept. That or he wanted Falco the grab the smash ball. While Falco was a good challenge Gin was growing somewhat bored. Maybe another Landmaster Tank would liven things up again.

Ah, there it was. That tank. Gin readied himself as the tank phased into being around Falco, awaiting the barrage of white hot laser fire he could easily, if he kept in the present, dodge. But no, Falco was angry. He came so close to losing, to soiling his perfect track record! There would be no cannon shots. Instead Falco drove the tank straight at Gin, and the tank was actually fast.

Gin jumped to the side. The hot exhaust from the tank seared his side but he kept alert, swinging back to face the tank as it made it for the edge. Gin smirked to himself. So Falco would drive his fancy ten second tank over the edge? Unlike him, maybe he was blinded by rage.

The tank disappeared over the edge, and Gin straightened. Strange way to win, he thought, bemused. The tank reappeared at the edge, driven upward by thrusters hidden underneath. Gin's smile fell. Winning didn't come so easily.

No longer was Falco yelling at him, screaming his victory. He was silent. Only six seconds had passed, six long, aching seconds. Four more until Falco's tank ran out of power and left him high and dry. So, a plan already formed, Gin ran from the tank, and it followed, intent on crushing him. Three seconds. Gin made a beeline for the nearest edge, the tank a little too close for comfort. Two seconds. He jumped over the edge, grabbing it before he could fall to his death and swinging up and underneath. One second. Falco thundered overhead, oblivious to his lack of time. No seconds. The tank disappeared in a surge of raw data as Gin clambered back onto the stadium, looking back in time to see Falco's face register confused surprise before he fell.

"Damn cocky bird," he muttered to himself, smiling. "Reminds me of Vince." And as he said that, Falco's superiority complex resurfaced again.

"I'll win next time!" he yelled, his voice falling away with his body, though still loud enough to cut through the fevered cheering of the crowds. "I'm Falco Supreme! You hear me, ya damn Aussie?!! Falco Supreme!" Grinning Gin leaned over the edge and yelled down, "Does that come with fries?!!" Silence, from both the audience and the now grounded Falco, before the audience burst into laughter and, surprisingly, Falco did as well.

"You know what?!" he yelled up. "I like ya! You're a damn bastard and I like ya!"

Chuckling Gin straightened and sheathed his sword.

"Making friends already," he muttered to himself, happy. His first battle and he had won. Just like Tejed, the two newcomers here had already shown their mettle. One had beaten the feared and strong king of the koopas himself, and the other had defeated the agile and skilled pilot of the Star Fox team. Already they were off to a good start.

Now to get some sleep and wait for tomorrow.

~*~

_The field always had been their favourite place to play. Regardless if it was all the way back in Germany or not, it always held a special place in both their hearts. Windblown carpet of green speckled with bursts of colour, always in the light of the sun, never the weather was dismal, always the birds were full in song. The grass tickled and the wind played. The bugs, both airborne and grounded, always seemed to be just as happy as them, butterflies and grasshoppers alike frolicking in an almost joyous fashion, parting ways for the sisters. _

"_Tejed, you're too slow!" yelled Dejet, mocking your younger sister's failed attempt to scrabble up the steep slope without falling flat on her face. The sky was unusually bright, an intensely saturated shade of blue she had never really seen before. She paid it no heed, too intent on her sister's distress and laughing. For what else was a woman of thirty-two and her sister of twenty-seven to do on such a glorious day, except have fun? The fact that they were back in their home village despite their ages did not dawn on her, only that she was home, and her sister was with her. _

_A strangled cry as Tejed slid down some more, the wind blowing her long auburn hair into her eyes and momentarily blinding her. Dejet stifled a laugh, her hand to her mouth. The wind continued to tug playfully on her sister's hair, making her upward climb more difficult without really meaning to. Just like them, all it was doing was playing. _

"_My god, Tejed, it's not that steep!" she called down, waiting patiently at the top of the hill. A few moments of frustrated grunts and Tejed finally appeared at the crown of the hill, her face flushed, not from the exertion, but from the cold chill the wind brought with it. Despite herself Dejet shivered and glanced up. A few dark clouds lingered over on the horizon, over the far off mountains, but aside from that everything was bright and warm and full of life. The cold continued to pull gently at her soul but she ignored it and smiled at her sister._

"_You took your time," she joked. Tejed glared at her, smiling as well, and took up a seat beside Dejet, looking out over the field and the subsequent forest. She did not seem to see the dark clouds, and Dejet did not point them out. The bright sun was simply too beautiful and all too quickly took her attention. Absently she laid an arm across her younger sister's shoulder, the weather fuelling her happiness. _

"_I love you, Tejed," she said quietly. At that Tejed returned the hug, smiling as well, and replied with a soft, "I love you, too." The clouds, so foreboding on the horizon, were still there, slowly growing dutifully bigger, threatening to engulf the ultra-saturated blue of the Earth sky. Another breeze, only this time the soft playfulness had been replaced with insistent scorn, almost like something alive and malevolent. The birds stopped and the insects became silent. The last of the bright sunlight disappeared under a veil of dark, dark gray shot with streaks of glowing blue lightning. Dejet shuddered and stood, the once peaceable plain replaced with dark green grass broken with jutting spires of hard cut granite, each sharp rock as cold and uncaring as the strengthening storm. _

"…_Let's go home, Tejed," she whispered, for fear the wind would steal her words away. Hesitantly Tejed stood, as well, holding onto her sister's arm for safety and protection, and as one they started across the nightmare plane to their house, so small and faraway and insignificant. _

"_Dejet, I'm scared," whispered Tejed, fear all too evident in her soft voice. No matter how far they walked, the house remained as stubbornly far away as always, deigning to grow bigger as they got closer as per the laws of the universe. _

"_I'm scared, too," replied Dejet grimly, unsure what was happening but in no immediate hurry to find out._

_Tejed clung close and stumbled, her foot catching on a jagged rock and sending her sprawling to the dead ground. Gasping Dejet dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her sister's prone form. Tejed was shivering and gingerly Dejet tried to pull her up, only to find that Tejed was impossibly heavy and would not move. The shivering had grown to spastic trembling and Tejed clutched at her head, crying. _

"_Tejed, get up," whispered Dejet, scared. She tried again but her sister was too heavy. The storm continued to escalate, bringing with it the far-off rumble of deep thunder, punctuated with bright flashes of neon blue. It drowned out Tejed's soft crying and Dejet's incessant pleading to get up and replaced it with the noise, with the rumble; the deep bass quake of something diseased and sick. Until the laughter cut through, a glint of insanity in a whirlwind of chaos, and Dejet stopped, her voice finally grabbed away by the greedy, prying hands of the storm. It was her sister laughing, giggling, snickering to herself, the soft voice of Tejed marred with something other, with something evil. _

"_T-Tejed…?" Dejet rasped, laying a hand on her sister's shoulder. The cold wind continued its relentless play, uncaring about who or what it was tormenting. Tejed continued her laughter, seemingly oblivious to her sister sitting horrified by her side, when suddenly she stopped, and with it so did the wind, the storm. The world became silent, yet the clouds did not let up, and cast in a sickly yellow light Tejed spoke up. _

"…_Would you like to play…?" she whispered, finally sitting up, her head down, her thick copper hair obscuring her face. Terrified Dejet hugged her close, confused. Their house was no longer on the horizon and the shattered plain stretched on forever, pointing accusing teeth of broken granite up at the bitter sky. _

"_Play what, Tejed?" asked Dejet shakily. In response Tejed finally looked up and snickered, whispering to herself underneath her breath in a broken voice that sent shivers up her sister's spine. _

"_A game…" she rasped, smiling a crooked smile. Dejet jumped back with a cry, startled as her sister stood, staring her down with glowing yellow eyes, her pupils thin slits. Her head jerked to the side and she twitched, smiling madly at her sister. A shaky step forward from Tejed, two back from Dejet. _

"_Let's play a game," Tejed whispered, the metallic hue of her hair dulling, fading, becoming a shade of brilliant white marred with dirt and gore. Her breathing became ragged but her grin remained, twisting her face into something Dejet did not recognize. "You run, and I catch you." Terrified Dejet shook her head. _

"_What happens when you catch me…?" she asked, hesitating. The sound of breaking bone and Tejed doubled over, her spine pushing itself painfully to the surface and her legs elongating, growing into mechanical monstrosities tipped with blood stained claws, wicked curved back talons made for ripping flesh and tearing skin. The laughter again, that chilling and quite insane giggle that made Dejet weep, for it sounded like her sister was enjoying this pain, this misery that was inflicted upon both herself and Dejet. When she straightened again she towered over her sister, her green skin and lanky arms covered in her own unnaturally coloured blood. _

"_If I catch you…?" she parroted, staggering forwards again. Three quick steps backwards, out of reach of the three fingered hands tipped in sickly yellow claws. This time when Tejed smiled she showed off two rows of sharp little teeth, stained with blood and rotting away and framed with a pair of maxillae, an insectoid trait repeated in the whithered antennae that now dangled crookedly with her hair. _

"_If I catch you…Then I kill you, of course," answered Tejed, snarling and laughing and muttering insane snatches of one sided conversation to herself. She spread her arms wide and allowed herself a sadistic smile, taking another step towards Dejet. "Now give your sister a hug," she breathed, her hot breath snaking out of her mouth in dark red curls. Dejet's brows furrowed in fear, then revulsion, then anger, before she screamed in a strained voice, "You're not my sister!" and abruptly turned tail, running where, she did not know, only that it was away from the insane abomination standing in the field, the monster that had masqueraded as her sister and gained her trust. Away from everything she feared and everything she hated and into the comforting darkness, a place where she could forget everything and finally be at peace. But the powers to be looked down on her decision, and instead of security the dark mist she had run into in her desperate attempt to escape brought her only fresh terror, new fear. She slowed to a stop and looked around. She was alone. Neutral gray with a tint of red, obscuring her vision in all three dimensions of reality. She stifled a sob. At least that creature wasn't here._

"_Oh god, Tejed," she muttered, finally breaking down in this world of nothingness. The silence listened intently, curious. "What happened to you? Why did you leave me? Come back…Please…"_

"_But I did come back…" came the broken reply, bodiless in the haze. "I went though hell and back to find you…" _

"_You're not Tejed!!" she screamed into the oppressing fog, crying. "Leave me alone and go away!" _

"_But I love you…" _

"_You killed her!" _

"_I am her…" _

_Angrily Dejet lashed out at the mists but they parted obediently before her fist, patiently absorbing her rage and leaving her attacks to whither in the darkness. _

"_Bring her back!" she screamed, the swirling mist muffling her screams and ignoring her requests. "Bring my sister back and die! Die! DIE!!" A pair of strong arms caught her and held her tight, ignoring her thrashing and screaming until she had tired herself out, drained herself of all emotion. And just when she thought she had fallen into the warm arms of Vince or her parents, the breathing came, low and sultry, pumped right into her face on sickly currents of chemicals and metallic death. Dejet gagged but still the arms held her tight. They were too long and too warm and too strong despite their skinniness and with a dull weight growing in her stomach Dejet realized who they belonged to. _

"_I caught you," whispered the deranged hybrid into her ear, no doubt smiling giddily. "Now you know the rules…" Claws bit painfully into Dejet's stomach and she cried. She cried and cried and when she thought she could cry no more she cried some more. _

"_Who are you?" she sobbed, the claws lightening their pressure. A few moments of silence, without that broken voice to taint it. A few seconds of…What was that? Compassion? But all too quickly it faded, in its place a visceral scorn, an animalistic hate that she simply could not comprehend, and when the voice spoke again it carried currents of pure hatred. _

"…_I'm Tejed," it replied bitterly, before the claws dug in and instead of crying Dejet screamed. _

Dejet awoke with a start and a strangled scream lodged in her throat, which came out as a husky sob. Instantly her hands went to her stomach, where the hybrid's claws had so carelessly dug in. But she was still one piece, still alive. Still a functioning human being without the injury she had sustained in dreamtime. She tried to lie down again only to sit up straight, her blankets wet with cold sweat, and casting feverish eyes around the room silently slipped from the bed, shaking from the fright. There wasn't a chance in hell she was sleeping here by herself, with her sister only one room over.

Dejet paused in the doorway and listened intently. Quiet muttering: Tejed was talking in her sleep. Shuddering from something she didn't quite understand and suddenly very afraid of the hybrid Dejet ran down the darkened hallway, away from her room. Away from her sister. To where? Like hell if she knew, but it was away, and at that point in time it was all that mattered.

The cold dark of the ship calmed Dejet somewhat and she came to a stop in an entirely different area, her shuddering fading. She contemplated going back to her room and toughing it out but her nightmare resurfaced and she almost had a mini panic attack before she calmed again.

"Oh god, Dejet," she muttered to herself, peering around the dark hallway for anything recognizable. "You're thirty-two for god's sake and you're scared of a little dream?" It had always been a weakness of hers, her lasting fear of nightmares. And this one was no different. Unlike her sister, Dejet had always been a little superstitious, believing in the prophetic power of dreams. And a dream wherein her own sister killed her? It meant something, she was sure of it. And she was dead sure it meant something bad. So, for tonight at least, she wasn't going back to her room. Not with Tejed so unbearably close.

But she couldn't just sit in a corner somewhere and sleep out in the hallway…

Gin and Samus, she thought suddenly, perking up, glancing around the corridor. Thirty-two or not she was frightened, and back when Tejed had been human a fright during the night ended up with her sleeping with her sister, curled up on her bed sleeping soundly with another human to keep her safe. But that was out of the question now. Not when her sister had become, and she hated herself for thinking this way, a monster. Maybe she could find the peace she sought with the people who helped save her from the frigate...

A sign above a door, illuminated in soft blue for insomniacs like her: kitchen, straight down the corridor to her left. Gin hadn't been kidding when he had said his ship was spacious, so much so that it needed little signs and directions just so people wouldn't get lost. Which really didn't help all that much, because more than half the time Dejet found herself getting lost anyhow. But she knew where the kitchen was, and if memory served her Gin's room was only a little ways away from it. And it had a huge sign out the front that said DO NOT ENTER in big red words, so it wasn't exactly hard to miss. So Dejet started quickly towards the kitchen, her little central hub of Gin's ship, her bare feet pattering softly on the cold hard steel floors.

She was so tired, so scared. But she couldn't go back to her room, not now…

"Oh god, I found it," she breathed, scared to break the soft silence in this darkened hallway. She came to a gentle stop in front of a door, a rather nondescript looking entrance with a softly glowing red sign sitting complacently above the doorframe. She smiled at the sight of it and gently pushed her way in, ignoring the sign. It was there to keep Hackbot out, seeing as Hackbot was the only one who paid any attention to it. When Gin slept, he preferred to sleep alone. Or at least without Hackbot.

The room was dark, the only illumination from the soft glow of the runner lights, small glowing lights inset into the floor that ran the length of the wall. To keep people from killing themselves in the middle of the night as they stumbled aimlessly through the ship. Now hesitant Dejet paused in the doorway. Gin wasn't alone. He was curled up happily beside Samus, the Hunter herself sleeping with one of her arms draped across his chest. They looked very serene together, she thought with a faint sigh. Almost like they belonged with each other. And they were sleeping so peacefully...

She hazarded a quick backwards glance out the door, down where she had come. It was dark, of course, and for a split second in the all encompassing darkness she fancied she saw the looming shape of Tejed, out to get her, all too long arms and double jointed legs. Quickly she looked away, willing the night time apparition to go away. When she looked back out the doorway it was gone and she sighed again, mustering up her courage.

"…Gin," she whispered, clinging to the doorway as though afraid he would get upset. He stirred slightly but did not wake. Samus remained still and Dejet spoke again, louder. Still no sign of waking. Cautiously she took a timid step into the room. The runner lights lit her softly in light blue hues and underlit the bed, killing off any and all monsters that might have been hiding down there.

"Gin," she said softly, no longer whispering. "Gin, wake up. Please…"

This time when he stirred he groaned as well, no doubt exiting whatever dream he had just been living. Groggily he opened his eyes and cast them towards the door, making out the shape of Dejet standing there.

"Dejet…" he muttered sleepily. "What do you waaaant…?"

"I had a bad dream," she replied quietly, too afraid to leave his cozy room now that she was here. Gin let his head fall back into the pillow and groaned, dragging his unsleeved mechanical hand across his face. It clinked tiredly, as though it wanted to drift of into dreamtime, as well.

"So sleep with Vince," he muttered groggily, eyes already closed again. "God knows that man craves the company…"

"But he's an ass," replied Dejet quickly, the concept of sleeping with Vincent already banished from her mind. Inconceivable. He may have had some good in him but that man was simply too obnoxious.

"Then sleep with your sister!" Gin maintained, intent on drifting back to sleep with Samus close by his side. The Hunter in question had awoken and was staring at the ceiling, listening to the conversation but not interrupting, curious as to where it would lead. But Dejet would not sleep with her sister and was avid about that, so she just shook her head and stayed inside their room, not budging. Gin sighed and sat up in bed, looking tiredly at her.

"You're older than both of us," he said quietly, motioning over at Samus. "Can't you just crawl back into your bed and forget your dream?" Dejet shook her head, resolute. "And why not?"

"Because Tejed's one room over."

"And why is that bad?"

"Because she's a monster!" she blurted without thinking, coming close to crying. At that moment Samus gave Gin a light smack upside the head and took over the conversation, intent on falling back to sleep herself.

"Gin, let her sleep in here," she said quietly, calmly. Gently. Dejet lit up at the words and looked to Gin for affirmation.

"But Samus!" he cried, indignant.

"Let her sleep in here," the Hunter maintained, her voice never once raising nor lowering. "She doesn't want to sleep by herself. That and this bed is huge."

Gin was tired. This was too much excitement in the middle of the night, especially when he had a match tomorrow that he was dead set on winning. Maybe Samus had a point. Maybe if he just let Dejet sleep in here, he in turn would get to sleep faster. Then he'd be more rested come tomorrow. So, tired, he nodded at Dejet, and quick as a flash she leaped forwards and wormed her way underneath the covers, taking up a spot between Gin and Samus. Smiling slightly Samus rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes, while Gin slumped back into his pillow and sighed. Sighing. He did that a lot.

"G'night, Dejet," he muttered, closing his eyes as well. Dejet smiled and did the same, quickly drifting off into dreamtime. And this time the Pirate-esque spectre of her sister did not appear.


	18. Chapter 18

_A weapon. We were told that Baldur was sealed away in a weapon, while Sypher was revered as a saint. We do not blame the Chozo for their rash decision. They were, after all, staring down death. And, if we were in their position, we'd take up the same stance. But we're not. We're mere outsiders, and as such, we see both sides equally. _

_Like Baldur, for instance. A mean spirited creature with a penchant for death and destruction. It's almost as though the dying screams of innocents are some sort of sick music to his ears, a morbid orchestra that does nothing except drive him to more bloodshed. It's like he loves the feeling of raw power coursing through whatever passes as his veins more than anything else, and if he had it his way, the universe would be razed to the ground. But other than that, we have no idea what he was like before the chaos began. _

_Was he always like this, or was he coerced into something beyond his understanding? _

_Sypher defeated him, cast his soul away into oblivion and with the power of the Chozo locked it away in a weapon. A cage to hold the malevolent entity for all of eternity. A fitting end, yes, but still something wholly evil, even for someone as inherently good as Sypher. He came a little too conveniently, though. At just the right time, with just the right knowledge and the skills needed to defeat Baldur. Which, of course, he did. _

_And while he's the hero, we feel something about him is off. Was this really all about justice and loyalty? Or was it one great big façade, a twisted web of lies? _

_Is the hero really the hero he's revered as? _

_And is the demon really a demon? _

~*~

Gin was tired. He didn't want to wake up. And his bed was so comfy and warm and reassuring. Being beside Samus made most of his concurrent nightmares vanish, in their place the dark void of eternity. And he found it so very comforting. So it came as no surprise that when he did groggily crack an eye, only to see Dejet sleeping soundly, he instantly thought the worst and quickly awoke, trying but failing to scramble from the bed. With a tired groan the Hunter awoke, then Dejet herself.

"We didn't do anything!" cried Gin, almost hysterical. Confused, Dejet glanced at Samus, who just smiled and shrugged. Gin did have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions when on waking. Though he didn't admit it, he was still half asleep. And his mind hadn't awoken fully yet.

"Relax, Gin," soothed Samus softly, reaching over to gently hold his arm. The metal was scuffed and cold in her grasp. "Dejet just had a nightmare, remember?" Slowly Gin calmed somewhat and stared at Dejet for a moment. She sort of shied away under his gaze, feeling very self conscious that she had given in to her nightmare instead of ignoring it.

"…What was it about?" asked Gin after a moment, seeming to wake up a little more. Dejet shook her head, remembering the horror from last night that had awoken her without remorse.

"…Tejed," she replied quietly. As if drawn by her own name the hybrid herself barged noisily into the room. And though she wore the façade of happiness she looked worse than she had yesterday, which was saying a lot. Her mouth had been open but when she saw her sister in the same bed as Gin and Samus she closed it, brows furrowing together in confusion. She looked at Dejet, then at Gin, then at Samus, then back again. Slipping into an obnoxious attitude she smiled.

"Dejet, I didn't know you had it in you!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Dejet averted her gaze from her sister and instead stared at the blanket covers. Tejed laughed. Not at her sister, but because she was feeling, for the moment, positively delighted. So of course she acted on it.

"Gin and Samus at the same time?" the hybrid continued, undaunted. "You sly thing, you!" Dejet murmured something incomprehensible, mentally willing her sister to go away. With it Tejed's ears fell, her happiness fading fast.

"…What's wrong?" she asked quietly. Another quiet murmur that even Tejed's heightened hearing could not understand. Gin sighed.

"She had a bad dream, last night," he said for Dejet. Tejed cocked her head to the side, an expression of curious confusion.

"…About what?"

Without a word Dejet wormed her way out of the bed and pushed gently past her sister, saying nothing. She quickly disappeared down the hallway, presumably back to her room. Tejed got the hint: Dejet did not want to talk to her right now. The dream must have been horrible to warrant such a reaction, and with a pang Tejed remembered that bad dreams had always ended with them sleeping together, instead of parting ways. Was she really so horrible that Dejet would run away?

She sighed heavily and looked back at Gin and Samus, suddenly very sad. And very shy in Gin's presence. Hastily she backed out the door with a muttered 'goodbye' and disappeared, as well. She had her second match sometime later in the day, against some pink ball of happiness name Kirby that she hated already. It was a good excuse to get away from Gin before she said something horrible, like that dreaded three word sentence that started with "I" and ended with "you" and had that pesky "love" word somewhere in the middle. And at her sudden insistence to leave Gin just snorted in mild amusement and shook his head, looking over at Samus.

"There's too many people on my ship," he said with a laugh. She smiled wryly back at him.

"It's your fault for making it so spacious," she said quietly, glancing off to her side. "Now where's that little bundle of warmth…" Confused, Gin peered over at her, trying to see what she was looking for. The Hunter gently opened the drawer to her bedside table and smiled warmly, whispering a motherly "There you are."

"Wha'is'it?" asked Gin tiredly, unsure he wanted to know. He was instantly presented with the one thing he had forgotten completely about: the Mochtroid.

"It still needs a name, Mr. Phoenix," Samus said quietly, the pink creature curled up warmly in her outstretched palm, humming contentedly. Quick as a flash Gin jumped out of the bed and pressed himself tight against the far wall, pointing a shaking mechanical finger at it.

"It doesn't need a name!" he yelled, dead terrified. Samus just chuckled to herself.

"But it's so cute!" And with that she poked it in the side of its gelatinous body, waking the tiny creature with a groggy chirrup. Tired it floated into the air, and when it caught sight of its 'mother' it chirped in excitement, flying around her head. She laughed. It reminded her so much of the larvae that had sacrificed its life for hers. She could not part with it.

"Are you a hungry little man?" she asked quietly, holding out a finger for the Mochtroid to nibble on. Which was what it did, only it refrained from draining any of her energy. It was merely a play bite.

"It doesn't have a gender!" yelled Gin, still terrified of the harmless creature. "It's spawned into being by a _queen_! It's an _it!_"

"It's a he," replied the Hunter calmly. Curious, the Mochtroid approached Gin, this time hungrily eyeing up his arm. It hadn't eaten much, if anything, since it had hatched. Which had been a full day earlier. And it was starving. So, without further notice, it launched itself at Gin and clamped happily onto his mechanical prosthetic, glowing a rich and deep pink. Gin screamed in mortal terror and Samus just laughed from her spot on his bed.

"He likes you!" she cried happily.

"It's eating my arm!" was the terrified reply, his arm, and the Mochtroid, swinging wildly through the air. A moment later the Mochtroid detached with a spark of electricity and floated back to Samus. Gin's arm hung uselessly by his side, and he looked decidedly miffed about it. Samus covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Smiling she turned her attention to the Mochtroid hovering diligently over her head.

"Like machines, I see?" she inquired softly. In response it floated down and snuggled her cheek warmly, chittering to her. She giggled and took it in her hands, hugging it close. And Gin, poor dejected Gin, now bereft of an arm until it regained its lost power, stared at it from the wall. When Samus looked at him again she smirked playfully.

"How much power did he drain?" she inquired playfully. Gin looked down at his arm and willed it to move. Nothing. Couldn't even twitch a single metal finger.

"All of it," was Gin's quaint and quite irritated response. Another stifled laugh, this time ending with the Hunter slipping from the bed, bedecked in nothing more than a simple flowing night gown.

"Gin, you're standing there in your boxers, staring in terror at a harmless pink blob," she said with a smile, patting him gently on the shoulder. The Mochtroid had curled up into her hair again, sated for the time being. Smiling wryly she pushed gently past him into the adjoining bathroom to get dressed for the day, calling out, "Put on some clothes and get ready for your match! And he still needs a name!"

"It does not!" was Gin's annoyed response, before grumbling angrily to himself. He stared at his arm in dismay. It simply would not move. And a replacement arm was damned expensive. Not that it really mattered, anyway, the expense. Gin just didn't want to go through the hassle of ordering the damn thing then picking it up then hooking it back up to his shoulder and breaking it in. It wasn't as simple as putting on a new shirt. It would be a new arm entirely. Maybe someone here could fix it for him…

Muttering angrily to himself he somehow managed to slip into a pair of pants and a simple shirt with only one functioning arm, almost killing himself about halfway through but still managing to get dressed. And without Samus' help. At that he smiled.

"A name, Gin."

And he groaned, turning towards the bathroom door.

"It doesn't need a name," he persisted angrily, growing annoyed by the whole event. It was still curled into her hair, and she did not seem to notice. In fact, the addition of the tiny creature to her persona seemed to make her happier than he had ever seen her.

"What about Maxwell?" she asked with a grin.

"No."

"Frederick?"

"Oh god, no." Samus thought for a moment, heading out of the room, Gin as close as he dared behind.

"Hmm…" she pondered, a hand to her chin. "What about…Vaughn?" At that he gave her a good glare, eliciting a laugh from her.

"Oh, come on, Gin! It was just a joke! Smile!"

"My arm doesn't work, Samus. I'm not smiling."

"Stop being so negative," she said with a grin. "It's just a Mochtroid."

"It's a Mochtroid using your hair as a bed…" he muttered angrily. Even though Samus was happy, an emotion that always seemed to rub off on Gin, he did not share her joy. The Mochtroid saw to that. So, grumbling, Gin stared resolutely at the back of her head as they walked, slowly making their way to the exterior of the ship.

"Then how about Lewis?" Samus asked, still intent on naming the napping creature. "I think it suits him quite well. He looks like a Lewis, to me."

"It's not a _him_," grumbled Gin. The Hunter cast a playful backwards glance at him.

"Then I guess she's a she?"

"It's not a she, either!" he exclaimed, growing more and more irritated by the second.

"So he is a he!" Samus said loudly, coming to a stop, the exit from the ship just a little ways away. Defeated, Gin stopped, too, knowing exactly what was coming next. "And he needs a name!" At that all Gin could do was groan and muster up a weak, "It doesn't need a na--"

"--Call him Xavier!" yelled Sarah happily from another room, waking the Mochtroid. With a happy squeak it left the Hunter's head and flew over to the young girl, chittering in delight. And, laughing, Sarah tried to grab it, only for it to fly out of her reach every time. Samus gave Gin a light punch in the arm.

"Sarah likes him."

He groaned and put his face in his hand, his other arm still a useless hunk of metal. Sarah liked it. That meant it was staying for good. No matter how much Gin protested about "Xavier", the tiny pink blob was going to stay. And, well, while Samus' happiness hadn't yet rubbed off on Gin, Sarah's sure did. And while he felt terror in the face of that tiny little Metroid based being, Sarah's laughter made him smile and for a few precious moments forget about his useless right arm.

"Daddy, it's so cute!" she squealed happily, finally managing to grab the Mochtroid and hold him close. He squirmed in her grasp but couldn't break free, was reduced to a squeaking mess. Despite his revulsion Gin smiled and started down the hall again, towards the exit, passing an empty guest room on the way. He glanced in and caught sight of Tejed shivering in the back of the room, and paused, concerned. The Mochtroid could wait.

"Tejed?" he asked cautiously, stepping into the room. Surprised she looked up, her wide eyes reminiscent of a deer caught in a pair of headlights. Hastily she scrabbled to her feet. Her arms were covered in bleeding gashes; it looked like she had been scratching incessantly.

"G-gin…" she stuttered, suddenly afraid that he had found her. She sort of half turned, tried to cover her bruised and beaten face. Never before had she felt so ashamed to have him look at her. He recognized her shame and pulled back out of the room, still watching her.

"We're going out. Wanna come?" he offered quietly. Behind him Sarah ran past, followed closely by Xavier. But she just shook her head quickly and shied back into the farthest corner she could find, away from him. Gin managed a sad sort of smile and nodded once. "I'll see you later, then," he said quietly, leaving the room, and the hybrid, by herself. Sarah had since run out of the ship, the role between her and Xavier switched, because now she chased him instead of the other way around. It didn't make Gin any less annoyed, though, as he dejectedly took hold of his mechanical arm and let it flop back into place.

"There's a few mechanics scattered around here," said Samus with a smile, watching him dismally examine his arm. "I can help you find a good one." He smiled at her, relieved as she took him gently by the defunct mechanical arm, Sarah running around them with Xavier in close tow.

"But…What about my match?" asked Gin quietly. His was due to begin in a few short hours. Samus merely waved his question off.

"Your arm's more important than a simple match," she said with a smile. "It'll wait for you, don't worry." And without further ado she led both Gin and Sarah, along with exactly one delighted Mochtroid, out into the milling crowds of Tournament guests in search of a mechanic, leaving Tejed all alone on the ship.

With nothing but the voice inside her head to keep her company.

_~*~_

Shivering. Tejed was always shivering anymore. She didn't know what it was, but she realized it had only started when she came to this blasted tournament. That and the itch. Her veins felt like they were constantly on fire though she could not fathom why. The persistent burning itch underneath her skin coupled with the shivering managed to do exactly one thing: throw her into an almost constant haze of borderline hysteria.

Nothing was helping her misery and all her friends were elsewhere on this backwoods planet most likely enjoying themselves. She knew Gin was apparently in the middle of his fight against…Fox, was it? That meant of course Samus would be watching. And if Samus was there Sarah wouldn't be too far, followed by Hackbot. The rest of the gang were probably watching, too. And come Gin's victory they'd all celebrate. Without Tejed. Because she had confined herself quite miserably to his ship until it was time for her match.

The thought made her bitter, then sad.

How could they have fun like that when she was stuck here in the ship having a minor mental breakdown? Oh, right. Because she simply _refused to tell them_. Headstrong Tejed Jenal, refusing help from others since becoming a mutated freak. And she was damn good at it. The psychosis and delirium saw to that.

"I'm dying," she whispered harshly, walking tight little circles around the main command room, dead certain that if she kept up her fixed orbit around Gin's command chair she'd wear a little moat around it. Fill it with the phazon water from her tears, with some delightful hallucinatory monsters from her mind, and his chair would be well guarded. Well, to her, at least. Seeing as she'd be the only one who could see them.

Shuddering she stopped her mindless pacing and slumped heavily into his chair, trying to ignore the burn and set on staying still. She closed her eyes, stilled her frazzled nerves, tried to think of nothing. One of her toes began to twitch and she grabbed her head, frustrated.

"This isn't working," she hissed, screwing her eyes shut. "Why isn't it going away?" A sudden spike of violent pain, running through her heart like a bolt of electricity. She grabbed at her chest, wincing. The burn escalated and with it, the itch, to the point she began to scratch incessantly at her arms, hoping it would dull the sensation. Instead it left her with oozing wounds and bloody claws. The burn continued undaunted.

"_If you gave yourself to me…" _

"NO!" she cried suddenly, once again grabbing at her head and glancing wildly around the room. It was quiet: neat and ordered. The exact opposite of her current mindset. A dull weight began to grow in her throat and she let it out in the form of a pained sob, hot tears beginning to trickle down her face.

"_All it takes is the simple act of…Letting go…" _

"I'm not listening to you…" she whispered, trying to tune out its voice.

"_Forget everything you know, Ms. Jenal. Give in to the night, give in to me…" _

"Where are you, mommy?" she sobbed, curled up into an awkward foetal position on Gin's chair, rocking back and forth with her ears pulled down beside her face. "Come save me, please, hold me tight and make the monsters go away…" The voice laughed at her pathetic attempt to block it out.

"_Mommy's not coming," _it taunted, carelessly picking at her mind, resulting in a wince every time. _"Why would she come when the only monster here is _you_…?" _

"You're lying." Eyes closed tight, breath coming fast. Everything so dreadfully silent, as though mocking her inability to quiet her own mind.

"_Hush little baby, I would never lie to you,"_ the voice cooed, wrapping its cold, cold claws around her brain. Shuddering she curled tighter and held her head close to her chest, as though she wanted to curl in on herself and phase out of existence. The coiling tendrils of the voice dug in deeper and she cried out, a soft mewling noise despite her usually surly attitude.

"Don't hurt me, mommy," she sobbed. In her mind the voice disguised itself behind the mask of family, using her own mother as a face, as a broken façade to hide behind. Like the coward it was. Like the coward Tejed couldn't see it for. "Please don't hurt me, don't hurt me, just leave me alone, just leave me and--" Another sharp stab straight through her heart and just as quickly as the sudden pain, her mood shifted.

"Just leave me and DIE!" she screamed, claws once again cutting into her scalp as her hands contracted. The voice recoiled for a moment, tearing some of its ethereal tendrils free. But it wasn't afraid, far from it. It was entertained by the agony it was putting her through. Carefully it began to coil in again and Tejed stood, enraged.

"Why can't you just fuck off and DIE?!!" she screamed angrily, yelling up at whatever god or deity cared to listen in.

"_Getting antsy, Ms. Jenal…?" _

"FUCK YOU!!" came the screeched reply, its owner lashing out at the command console in a fit of anger she could not control. "You _stupid_ _**sadistic**_ ABUSIVE _fucking_ _WHORE!! _How'd you like to see how it _feels_, **voice**?! To get all riled up instead of me?! To be _yelled_ at and SCREAMED at until _all_ _I_ _hear_ is YOU and all I _see_ is YOU and all I _THINK_ IS _**YOU**_?!! Why don't you just get ready to DIE?!!"

It just laughed at her. She sorely wanted to break something, but even with such madness clouding her vision she had the decency to leave Gin's ship in one piece. Snarling she stomped from the command room, intent on finding something to drown the burn away. Hadn't she brought some alcohol with her? She sure as hell hoped so. Some Rigelian Screech would be oh so very tasty right about now…

"_You didn't bring it, my dear,"_ hissed the voice playfully. Dutifully she ignored it and made a beeline for her room, nearer to the back of the ship, whispering a tune her mother used to sing her when she was only a small child. She found it strange how she remembered such a song from many years back, but couldn't for the life of her remember what she had done not even two days ago. Not wanting to dwell on such depressing thoughts she burst into her room and started rooting around, underneath the bed and in the closet and behind the bedside table. Her actions granted her nothing. No release from the burn. Which, of course, ignored her as well as she ignored the voice.

"_Your actions are useless…" _

"I'll find something," was her hissed response, so very angry and sad and desperate. Anxious she left the room, glancing down the hallway both ways, and quickly ran into the nearest room. Nothing in there, either. Just as empty as hers. Next room. Same story. Her searching became more frantic, and in a fit of desperation she reared up and kicked the wall, shaking the ship and leaving a nice large dent before shuddering and holding her head to her chest. She leaned against the wall and let out a sob. This was feeling more and more hopeless as time went on, and she wasn't exactly sure how much longer she could last.

"I'll find something," she repeated to herself, taking a deep, shuddering breath. Slowly she uncurled from her position and left the room, off to the next, and then the next.

"_No one else here drinks, Ms. Jenal,"_ the voice laughed. _"This is a fool's errand…"_

"Then I guess I'm a fool," she muttered back, finding herself in a bedroom furnished with expensive looking decorations. She did not care. A room was a room and she was set on searching each and every one until she knew this overtly clean ship like the back of her clawed hand. Instantly she started rooting through the nearest cabinet, searching through everything for something to sate her agony, at least for a few precious seconds. It was only when her frantic searching dislodged a small packet of something unknown did she reluctantly stop, staring down at it and breathing hard as her anger grew more and more intense.

"_Ooh, what's that?"_ taunted the voice, still worming its way insidiously into her mind like a parasite. Left eye twitching she bent to retrieve it, claws closing around red cardboard and slick plastic. Her anger died down by slow degrees and the sorrow began to close in, a thick fog that obscured the edges of her vision with blurred tears.

"They're cigarettes," she whispered, carefully opening the packet. But who did they belong to? Definitely not Gin. He would never smoke. Neither would her sister. Samus? Maybe Samus. Tejed had no idea what kind of stress the Hunter went through, so there was a possibility they were hers. Or Vince's. This room wasn't really yielding any answers. Just because it looked expensive didn't automatically mean it was Gin's or Vince's. There was also Hackbot and Sarah, but even thinking about them being addicted to nicotine was absurd. Holding the packet almost reverently she left the room, back to the main command.

"Back in high school everyone always said how good they made them feel," she muttered, still holding the small carton. "Calms…_Stress_…"

She arrived at the command room and sat heavily. Hesitantly she pulled one of the cigarettes from the pack, uncertain. Back when she had been in high school, she had also made a promise with her sister, one that she was loathe to break. Neither of them would ever smoke, would ever get into drugs. Did such a promise still live even though Tejed was no longer the same Tejed who had made that promise? Would Dejet still care? Let alone remember? Would Dejet…Disapprove?

"_What does it matter if she disapproves?"_ hissed the voice malevolently. It had dug itself a nice little nest in her mind, tendrils extending to every point in her head. _"She's useless, anyhow. So much wasted flesh, Ms. Jenal. So much wasted flesh…" _

The burn slowly started to build, and with it, Tejed's body temperature, bringing it up to the status of high fever. She scowled. To hell with decades old promises she mused sullenly, drawing a talon across the palm of her hand. Phazon blood pooled to the surface and she jabbed the end of the cigarette into it. Where a normal person would have winced she just watched indifferently. Too much pain over the course of the past few months had more or less numbed her to anything lower than a broken bone. Almost instantly the tip of the cigarette burst into blue flame from the phazon and she quickly blew it out, surprised.

"Potent, today, I see," she muttered, flinging some blood to the floor. It hissed loudly where it landed. Too much phazon; finally, the cause of the itch revealed. Now to find out how to dispel it, when try as she might she simply could not push back the rusted failsafe at the back of her mind and enter Berserker to burn it off. But dismal thoughts aside she turned back to the present, and the lit cigarette now smouldering in her claws. A waft of diseased smoke reached her nose and she gave a tentative sniff. Chemicals. And lots of them. They smelled sickly sweet, almost pleasant, and she smiled morbidly.

"Should I go through with it?" she muttered, having fleeting doubts. She still had enough of her old mind to know this could end up badly. The voice grinned its crocodile smile.

"_Embrace the poison…" _

"But…What if she hates me?"

"_She never loved you, anyway…"_

"You're lying again," the hybrid whispered, coming close to tears. The smouldering cigarette trembled in her shaking hands. She stared at it, confused and frightened. Its lit tip burned dark red and orange, the colour of a sunset, of a burning fire. Of destruction and despair.

"_It's only what I do best, whisper sweet lies into your ear…" _

A cold embrace. Tejed shuddered, stared at the lit cigarette for a moment longer before deciding, with a scowl, to go through with it. Anything to silence the voice, to lessen the burn. Anything at all, even a broken promise.

~*~

"Tejed, you're smoking."

In response the hybrid shrugged from her spot beside Gin's ship, leaning up against the smooth steel exterior. Cautiously Dejet approached her and stood beside her, staring up at her sister.

"Why?" she asked simply, utterly confused. Tejed shrugged again and sighed, the hot smoke leaking out of her bottom jaw as well as her nose. Dejet recoiled slightly at the smell and Tejed looked away, ashamed that she had given in.

"It makes me feel better," she rasped quietly, unable to look her sister in the eyes. "It makes the delirium fade and the hysteria weaken. It makes me less jittery." She didn't say how it made the burn weaken, as well, though it was still present, still begging relentlessly for the release she simply could not supply. Dejet's eyes grew far away and her brows furrowed. She took a step away from the hybrid. Tejed looked at her.

"But…We made a promise…" she whispered, and in her mind Tejed sighed heavily, aggrieved. So Dejet had not forgotten. "And you…You broke it."

"When you suffer from hallucinations and paranoia you'll do anything to make them go away," Tejed replied sadly. "Or at least…Stop bothering you…For more than a few minutes…" But Dejet was not listening to reason, was not paying attention to logic. All she saw was her sister smoking, and the sight alone was enough to break her heart. So, trying not to cry in front of the hybrid, she turned and left. And where Dejet would not show Tejed her tears, Tejed gave in.

"I'm sorry," she rasped quietly. Dejet did not hear. "I'm so sorry…"

At least the drugs the cigarette was pumping into her system made her feel better, made her skin itch less and quieted her mind a fraction. Now if only they could mend a rift between two sisters. Tejed sighed. She had just broken something precious, whether she intended to or not.

"Why do I always make the wrong choices?" she asked herself quietly, staring out over the tournament grounds.

"_Because you're blessed with me…" _hissed the voice. Angrily Tejed pushed away from the ship and started out into the crowds, which diligently parted before her, not exactly eager to get in her way after her last battle had gone so…Erratically. She had made the good people of this tournament both scared and respectful, which meant she got ample distance when walking around. She liked that. No one bumped into her, no one cut her off, no one got in her way.

Perfect.

Now if only she could navigate the maze like conglomeration of store fronts enough to actually find the viewing area. Then she could catch the latter end of Gin's match. A rotund alien with three eyes perched on stalks saw her coming and tried to get away but he was too slow.

"Hey!" Tejed yelled, grabbing the tail end of his hand. He shivered at her touch but didn't struggle. "How in hell's name do I get to the stands?" she asked quietly, not wanting to upset him. All she wanted were some simple directions. Evidently even with her calm manners on she was still scary, as evidenced by the alien's shivering. He mulled over her words for a few short seconds, the implant in his brain translating them into something he understood, before hesitantly speaking up.

"Grrrr-clack," he replied quietly. "Scrick'ost evben sa."

And all Tejed could do was cock her head to the side, confused, for unlike the alien she did not have an implant in her brain to translate for her. She left those tasks to the suit she had deigned to wear. The alien seemed to understand this after a moment and switched to a language she could understand.

"Th-that way," he stuttered in broken Universal, a language Tejed had a few grasps on. Everyone knew it. It was to stop misunderstandings from happening and to spread communication. His free hand pointed out towards the arenas. "A-sk someone there. Let me go…"

"_Don't let him go…" _

Quickly she let go, watched him scurry away, where he melded back into the crowds and disappeared. The voice was disappointed.

"_Aw, you let a perfectly good toy go," _it said sadly._ "I was curious as to what colour his blood was…" _

"Who gives a fuck," she muttered, starting off at a fast pace towards the stands where the alien had pointed. The voice snickered and gave one of its tendrils, a thick one wrapped particularly tight, a good yank. Tejed gasped and almost buckled in pain, a hand inadvertently going to her head. A few curious bystanders stopped to watch.

"_I give a fuck…" _

"I don't give a fuck that you give a fuck!" she yelled angrily, trying to regain her balance. Another savage pull, this one sending her stumbling into a wall for support and drawing more onlookers.

"_You _should_ give a fuck…" _

"Fuck off!"

She gave the wall a good hard punch, almost breaking the thick steel it was comprised of before noticing the small crowd she had gathered. A deep breath, an intake of soothing nicotine and drugs, and she calmed somewhat. Slowly she stood straight and straightened herself, dragging a hand through her messy hair and smoothing out her meagre black top. Nobody moved. They all continued to stare, caught in some sort of trance by her intense yellow eyes.

"Go away," she muttered, her voice devoid of emotion. No movement. She growled low in her throat and snarled at them.

"I said FUCK _OFF_!!"

That seemed to do the trick, and as one the group that had gathered to watch her agony and her one sided conversation scattered, melding back into the crowds. Tejed allowed herself a grim little smile and took the cigarette from her mouth so she could get a breath of fresh air before sticking it right back in. The voice snickered evilly at the back of her mind but said nothing and took no more action. Which of course pleased her. So, cigarette smoking lazily in the corner of her mouth she continued her quick pace to the stands, hoping she could catch the tail end of Gin's fight. Or at least his victory. Though she would never say it to him in person, or at all, she knew he would win. He had that spark in him that commanded success.

Soon the signs around her started pointing in a specific direction, and though she couldn't read them she knew what they said: Fighting. This way. The stands. A place to watch. A heavy mechanical guard stood jaded off to the side of one of the entrances and, almost shyly, Tejed approached him. He observed her with a bored eye but said nothing.

"The…Uh…The VIP stands," she said softly, digging in her pocket for her fighter's pass. She was still shivering from the constant itch of the burn, so it came as no surprise that when she finally found the small plastic card it slipped from her quivering grasp and clattered to the ground. Before she could pick it up the mechanical guard bent down to retrieve it and gently handed it back to her, glancing over it. Hesitantly she accepted it and muttered a quiet, "Thank you."

The guard moved off to the side, revealing a previously hidden door inset into the thick steel which she instantly brightened at the sight of. She smiled timidly up at him. Though the guard didn't scare her his silence unnerved her slightly. That and he showed no fear towards her, a fact which she respected. So she only thought it best to show him the same sentiment, even if he never said anything.

Still staring up at him; the guard towered a good three feet extra above her; she gently opened the door and disappeared inside. It clanked heavily shut behind her, the guard moving back into place. Even though she had just been in the VIP stands yesterday watching Gin and Samus fight she had forgotten how to get up there. And she didn't want to create an unintentional ruckus by walking right in and doing something wrong. She had a bad habit of doing that.

But it was only a couple of flights of stairs before she emerged high above the main arena, in an enclosed area whose soul purpose was to house people of importance. The cigarette quivered slightly in her mouth as she smiled, still shivering, and approached the front of the covered overhang, taking a hesitant seat near Vince, who just stared at her curiously. He had been inspecting his sniper rifle, the weapon laid out diligently across his lap, but it could wait a few moments now that Tejed was here.

"When did you start smoking?" he asked suspiciously. Tejed shrugged absently and glanced around the small room. Dejet was sitting off to the far right, her face buried in a communicator pointedly ignoring Tejed, while Hackbot and Sarah were together on the other side.

"An hour ago," was her distracted reply. Vince's eyes narrowed and gently he closed up the gun with a distinct click.

"And where'd you find those cigarettes?" Another absent shrug. Someone else was on the arena, and it looked like their fight was closing to an end. Where was Gin?

"On Gin's ship, in some room somewhere."

"You have the packet?"

"Huh? Sure…" she replied, digging in one of her pockets. She handed him the packet and sighed heavily, inhaling the curiously calming smoke. Instantly Vince chucked it at the side of her head and, confused, she finally looked at him. And he didn't look all that happy.

"Those were my cigarettes, you freak!" he yelled. She flinched but didn't say anything. On the other side of the room Sarah seemed to finally notice her and started tugging on Hackbot's arm, pointing over at her big scary friend. "They cost a small fortune!" For the third time in such a short space of time she shrugged again.

"That's what you get for leaving them lying around," she replied, bending to retrieve it. "They're mine now." A few short seconds later Sarah launched herself at Tejed and wrapped her arms gleefully around her neck, laughing happily. For the first time since she had arrived here Tejed forgot about the burn and hugged the small girl back. The cigarette dislodged from her mouth and fell without a sound to the ground, and all Vince did was glare at it. Because his cigarettes really did cost a small fortune and he hadn't counted on Tejed finding them.

"Scary pirate lady needs hugs!" Sarah said, absolutely delighted. Sarah's happiness was infectious.

"Scary pirate lady loves hugs," Tejed replied with a smile. Vince smiled as well but remained silent. Something chirped loudly and Tejed looked up. Xavier was hovering over her head, unsure whether she was friend or foe. At the sight of him Sarah hastily climbed up Tejed without a care in the world, stepping on her face and grabbing her ears for support. She almost fell and had to grab one of the hybrid's maxillae for support, which got a good wince out of Tejed, before Sarah managed to get a good footing and tried to grab Xavier. He squeaked once and flew out of reach. Tejed was not pleased but put up with the torture, anyhow.

"Xavier! Come back!" she cried in dismay. Vince suppressed a chuckle at the sight of one little girl using the towering hybrid as a ladder. The hybrid in question, though annoyed, allowed Sarah to cling to her head. A foot in her eye and a hand gripping her bottom jaw was a small price to pay for happiness.

"_My, Ms. Jenal, you sure are being compliant,"_ mused the voice with a humorous chuckle. _"You keep this up and you may as well adopt her…Cute little thing…"_ Surprised at its apparent kindness Tejed spluttered, Sarah's foot still lodged in her mouth, and quickly the voice corrected itself, muttering a quick and spiteful _"Kill the fucker now" _in a hackneyed attempt to cover its tracks.

"Xavier!" Sarah cried one last time, before finally grabbing the Mochtroid and almost falling off Tejed a second time. Instead she slid down Tejed's face and fell unceremoniously in her lap. Sarah beamed up happily at her and presented her the chittering creature. "His name is Xavier!" she announced happily. Poor creature looked utterly dejected. "Daddy got him!" Tejed chuckled, pushing the voice's insistence to kill to the back of her mind.

"Did he, now?" she asked quietly. She didn't mind Sarah sitting in her lap. In fact, she enjoyed it immensely. Sarah nodded happily and let the Mochtroid go. Quickly it flew into the air and began a fixed orbit of Tejed's head, intermittently darting forward to nibble her ears as though he was still wary of her. And all along Dejet sat diligently over by herself, clicking away on her communicator and ignoring everyone. Tejed felt horrible. She wanted to go over to her sister and give her a big hug and apologize profusely but that would have been a bad idea. If Dejet didn't want to acknowledge her than Tejed would leave her be. So instead she stared out the main window, again, at the match that had just ended, and sighed heavily.

"Where's Gin?" she asked, looking over at Vince. He shrugged in response and leaned his gun against the chair, having already given it all the attention it needed. At least he wasn't being an unholy asshole to her. Maybe he was starting to calm down after reuniting with his brother after a year of torture.

"Taking his jolly sweet time," was the reply. "I think Xavier over there drained all the power to his arm."

Tejed snorted in mild amusement and ruffled Sarah's hair. For the time being Tejed's shivering had faded and she could ignore the burn. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait. And this time she had the blessing of company.

~*~

Speaking of Gin's fight, Tejed hadn't missed much. Due to a delay to get his arm up and working again (though Samus had maintained otherwise, Xavier had sucked out more energy than even she had thought possible) Gin had sort of sat off to the side while other battles raged on, waiting as patiently as he could for his arm to get back from repairs. And sitting there in the waiting area next to Samus with no right arm was, suffice it to say, creeping him out. And Gin didn't get creeped out very easily.

"Gin, you look like an annoyed scorpion waiting to sting someone," Samus said humorously, sitting beside him. "What's wrong?"

"My arm is gone," he said stoically.

"You'll get it back soon enough," the hunter encouraged, and Gin finally looked over at her. He looked tired. A communicator sat in his lap, displaying something he had been working on. Or at least trying to work on. It wasn't easy when he only had one arm. Samus motioned over at it, changing the topic.

"What are you working on?" she asked, genuinely curious. "I always see you stuck in that thing whenever you have the time."

"…It's a personal thing," he said quietly, looking down at it. It displayed an encrypted message he was trying to decipher, and by the looks of it he had gotten about a quarter of it done. Samus deigned to read it. It was Gin's, and it was personal. And she respected that. Didn't mean she wasn't curious.

"How long you been working on it for?" Gin shrugged absently and quickly pocketed the communicator.

"…A long time," was his quiet response. Samus smiled sadly and leaned over, embraced him in a warm hug which he gladly accepted.

"We should go somewhere when this is all over and done with," she said softly, watching the milling crowds just outside of the waiting area. "Somewhere where there's no fighting and no enmity and we can just…Relax…"

"Relaxation would be nice…" Gin agreed quietly.

"You have any ideas?" He thought for a moment, sort of half watching the milling multitudes of aliens. Further to the back of the waiting area sat another man, bedecked in a simple black coat with a pad he was hastily scribbling on, jotting down everything he could make out of Samus and Gin's conversation. They did not notice him.

"Be'Ach would be nice," said Gin finally. Samus's brows furrowed as she tried to place the name.

"Be'Ach?" she parroted. Gin nodded.

"Be'Ach 7. It's a planet a fair bit away from Federation space. Huge class A planet, three suns, two moons. Nitrogen oxygen atmosphere like Earth. It's…" He trailed off for a moment and sighed. "It's a Masters owned planet. They don't allow anyone there unless they're rich…" At that Samus grinned at him.

"Or if they happen to be dating a Masters?" Gin chuckled.

"Or if they happen to be dating a Masters," he agreed. "Or are friends with one. It's a pretty exclusive place. It's never open to the public so there's hardly anyone there. Which is nice, of course. It's quiet and relaxing and…Nice…"

"I'd love to go there, Mr. Masters," Samus said quietly, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. For a few precious moments they were happy together. Until the mechanic finally came running out with Gin's arm, ecstatic that he had finally managed to fix the darned thing. And only after almost an hour of waiting. The man in the black coat quietly got up and left, the note pad slipping easily into his pocket. He already had all the information he needed. Now he just had to sell it.

Quickly Gin leapt to his feet, excited. An hour without his arm was an hour too much and he was anxious to get the thing back.

"I _finally_ got it working!" was the mechanic's ecstatic cry. He wasn't human; in fact he had all the likings of a sort of alien monkey; but his expression was the most human thing Gin had ever seen: intense relief. The mechanic's floofy main of white feather-like hair was all frazzled and he was drenched in sweat but he looked none the worse for wear. "It just wouldn't power up and I sat there scratching my head over it for an hour before it finally hit me that one of the auxiliary pumps were shot and without that the power wouldn't run and here it is now!" He spoke fast and high pitched, a tinge of lunacy on the edge of his voice, like he had been a mechanic for way too long.

"But it works?" asked Gin, gently taking his arm and giving it a once over. The mechanic nodded fervently.

"Should work better than ever," he replied quickly. "I took the liberty of giving it a tune up, too. You should have seen all the dust and gunk clogging up the gears. That thing's seen a lot; how long have you had it for?"

"A couple years, now," replied Gin, inspecting it. The scuffed steel had been polished and he couldn't find a trace of the blood splatters and dents that used to coat it. Now came the hard part: hooking it back up to his shoulder. And while said procedure wasn't exactly hard, it was sure as hell painful, so much so that the mechanic gently put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Let's get some aesthetic into ya, that's gonna hurt when you hook it back up."

"I know," replied Gin, shrugging his hand off. The mechanic, of course, looked worried.

"But sir, the pain's been known to knock out adults!"

"I know," Gin repeated, this time a bit more forcefully. Far in the back the man in the black coat paused to watch, curious. Samus gently helped Gin out of the simple white shirt he had been wearing, revealing the mechanical socket in place of his right shoulder and the huge omega brand on his right arm. Quickly the man whipped out his notepad again and took a few more quick notes before disappearing for good this time, but not before giving one last backwards glance as Gin took a breath and jammed his revamped arm into his old socket.

The mechanic was right. The sheer amount of pain involved in a mechanical prosthetic rejoining with organic flesh and hooking back up to fully functional neurons was enough to drive most people insane. Good thing Gin had already undergone enough pain in his twenty eight years of life to shrug off plugging in his arm as easily as Tejed had with her broken neck all that time ago. Which left the mechanic sort of standing there, dumbstruck, staring at Gin as he gently flexed his arm and got used to it again. Samus handed back his shirt and gratefully he slipped it back on.

"Ready for your match?" she asked gently. He stretched his arm out once more, the dull ache in his shoulder fading away, and smiled at her.

"Ready."

~*~

"Nice fight with my pilot," said Fox calmly, nimbly dodging a quick attack by Gin. "Good on you, that guy's an asshole at times and the defeat managed to deflate his ego."

"Falco is one of yours?" asked Gin curtly, pulling his pistol on his opponent. In response Fox did the same and they both fired at the exact same time, their shots canceling each other out in the middle of the arena. Gin smirked. This was going to be a fun fight.

"Sure is" he replied, firing off another round, only to have Gin cancel it out. Gin smirked and drew his katana swiftly. Fox eyed its charged length but said nothing, merely dodged the blue electricity now plotting a collision course with his midsection.

"That guy has one hell of a big head," said Gin with an almost feral smile. Fox had dodged the blade and had swung around with a roundhouse kick. Discreetly he rolled his eyes at Gin's comment.

"His greatest downfall. Good damn pilot, but way too full of himself…"

Gin ducked and cleaved upwards with the blade. Fox did a sort of aerial roll and narrowly missed it. He landed on his feet a little ways away and took a moment to catch his breath. He was enjoying this fight, as well. Finally he was doing something instead of sitting back and listening to his crew mates argue with each other.

"Just a _little_," remarked Gin, focused on the fight. Without warning Fox charged him, at the last second activating his super boost. By some feat of will Gin moved at precisely the last moment. Fox clipped his side. Gin's pistol clattered loudly to the ground and fell out of reach. Fox grabbed for his pistol now that Gin was bereft his only long range weapon.

"Interesting Final Smash, Mr. Phoenix," Fox said quickly, breathing quickly. "What would you call it?" Gin shrugged and readied his sword.

"Chain-blade," he replied. "Designed it myself." Fox's nose twitched and he unleashed a volley of pistol fire in the hopes he'd whittle down Gin's health and score a critical, enough to hit him off the edge. But instead the hunter did the last thing Fox expected. A blur of bright blue electricity, and just like that Gin had deflected all of the bolts, in their place a quickly dissipating cloud of black smoke. Fox's nose twitched again. Gin just smirked.

"I'm not so easy to defeat," he stated. "Your pilot found that out the hard way."

Something flashed like lightning and instinctively they both looked up. A glowing multicoloured ball floated serenely overhead, the tournament logo engraved in its tough steel side. The smash ball. They both looked back at each other at the same time, a primal joy alighting in both their eyes. The race was on.

Gin made the first move, jumping quickly towards the smash ball in what he hoped was a few precious seconds before Fox did. No such luck. Fox reminded him so much of himself where fighting style was concerned, for right as Gin's sword was about to make contact it was smacked away by a well placed kick. And they both fell back to the ground. Fox was surprised. He hadn't counted in Gin's sword actually conducting electricity, he had thought it was just fancy and nothing more. The painful shock that was running rounds through his body before dissipating told him otherwise.

"N-not just a fancy kn-nife?" he stuttered, the pain receding. The smash ball jerked upwards and Gin watched it, trying to make any sense out of its erratic movements.

"Not just a fancy knife…" he muttered, watching the ball. It jerked backwards once before gently floating back down, almost touching the arena. Fox perked up and began to pepper it with laser fire, hoping he could weaken it before landing a good kick and breaking it open. Unlike Falco, Fox actually knew how to use the Landmaster tank to his advantage. And he was damned if he didn't get that ball. But then the smash ball enigmatically shifted through the arena floor and disappeared from sight, at which time Gin set his sights on Fox instead, and with a quick rush managed to tackle him to the floor before he turned.

"That's my smash ball," Gin hissed, his voice holding a bit more venom than he had intended. Far in front of Gin the smash ball resurfaced, phasing through the arena like an entity from another dimension. Quickly Gin jumped to his feet, eager to get to the ball. Fox caught one of his legs and sent him sprawling to the ground, his face connecting painfully with hard unforgiving concrete.

Far up above the normally peaceful green sky rumbled with far off thunder. The crowd's screams intensified. Gin ignored them both.

"I'm pretty sure it's mine," replied Fox lowly, running towards it. Growling Gin hastily scrambled to his feet, in time to see Fox kick the ball a good one. It ricocheted away from the force of the impact but stayed in one piece, and in a sudden flood of anger Gin ran forwards, only to stop himself and take a few deep breaths. He was getting angry. By nature he wasn't an angry person. That meant his serum was probably wearing off and the Physeter was taking hold again. And Gin absolutely hated it when his actions were mandated by an experimental drug instead of his own mind.

"I bet my eyes are red…" muttered Gin angrily, surprised by how fast, and how subtly, the Physeter had taken hold this time around. The smash ball, by some fluke of nature, jerked suddenly around in midair and sailed lazily over Fox's head, making a beeline towards Gin, who allowed himself a grim smile and clenched his sword with white-knuckle intensity. The fast her got this battle over the faster he could get back to his ship and the faster the Physeter wouldn't be clouding his mind. So before Fox could register what was going on Gin jumped, sword at the ready, and aimed for the smash ball.

With a resounding clang his electric knife made contact with the ball, and due to all the stress the poor thing had undergone it instantly broke open, the metallic screech of breaking steel filling the arena. He got ready for the chain-blade technique he knew it would imbue upon him, his sword held out to his left. But instead something entirely different happened, and instead of the soft blue from his Falco fight the mist from the smash ball faded to ever darker red. Fleeting panic rushed across his mind. This had never happened before, and despite his steely resolve it frightened him, as the unknown was wont to do.

Fox kept his distance, always on the ready. He had been intently watching the Falco fight from earlier and that chain-blade scared him. It looked a formidable weapon, indeed. And to top it off it was enough to scare even the mighty Tejed, seeing as at the sight of it, far up in the stands, she had shied away. But something was wrong. Something was happening differently. Fox distinctly remembered blue mist, blue light. Now it had degraded to a simmering red, a red copied in the dance of his sword's electricity. Gin was closer to that sword than even he knew and curious, Fox stepped back to watch.

The franticly cheering crowd grew silent, waiting in giddy anticipation.

"Well this is certainly new…" Gin muttered to himself, his sword starting to tremble, the red runes inscribed in its surface sputtering fitfully. He tried to let go but the current now rushing through his body kept his hands clenched tight and brought him to his knees. This is what he got for getting so angry, he thought sullenly, the dark energy from the sword beginning to envelop him. Anger always had been something he sought to keep repressed, lest something like this happen. Lest the anger finally break free and take over, like it did with Tejed. But where Tejed seemed okay with letting that happen Gin was avidly against it. Until now. And with a rather sharp stab of electrical agony from his sword for a few precious seconds everything went black, only to light up again.

"_Stand up, you sissy,"_ came a deep grumbling voice from the back of his mind. It sounded annoyed but at the same time humoured, and diligently Gin listened. The crowd instantly broke into renewed cheering when he stood and he did not know why.

"_Good, you're not completely useless,"_ it remarked. It sounded tired. _"Now put our axe to good use, eh? Before I fade again…"_ Confused Gin glanced down at his katana, expecting to see familiar blue electricity and a rune encrypted blade. Instead he was faced with strangely different runes inscribed in a golden axe blade and shimmering blue instead of red, and perplexed he turned his eyes up to Fox, who currently had a pistol pointed straight at Gin's head.

"Fancy trick there, Mr. Phoenix," he remarked curtly, cocking the weapon. "I didn't know you could do it."

"…Neither did I…" replied Gin, readying the axe. A grumbled laugh like rolling thunder sounded in the back of his mind before falling silent, and hesitant Gin readied the new weapon. It should have been heavy. It was, after all, huge. But it weighed next to nothing. Without warning Fox pulled the trigger, and acting on reflexes alone Gin brought up the axe for protection. The laser shot fizzled against the thick golden blade but did not harm him and, though confused, Gin managed a smile. Something dark red caught his attention and he half turned, still keeping an eye on Fox. A tattered red cape stirring slightly in the wind. He noticed his hands, clutched protectively around the axe handle. One was bedecked in a rusted gauntlet where the other was seemingly made of darkness, a single shackle with a broken chain clasped around his wrist. Fox charged him, and too busy trying to figure out what had happened Gin failed to dodge the attack, getting a good punch to the side of the face.

"So what happened?" asked Fox quietly, jumping back to the ground. The ground. It suddenly seemed so far away, almost as though Gin had gained height. Putting his new axe to use Gin swung down, but Fox easily dodged it, running around to the back so he could attempt a swipe at Gin's legs.

"I have no idea," muttered Gin, noticing that, like the new voice that had stirred him to stand, his voice too had become deep and booming, like rumbling thunder. It scared him.

"I don't believe that," stated Fox, taking advantage of Gin's apparent clumsiness. He jumped up and tried a downward kick, but this time Gin dodged, moving swiftly to the side. His cape followed resolutely, and for a moment managed to obscure Fox's vision. Jumping on his chance Gin performed a forward thrust with his axe. It hit Fox in the side and crying out he stumbled away.

"Believe it," replied Gin, smiling. Fox just snorted in derision and regained his fighting stance. His side ached. He could ignore it.

"What kind of fighter has no idea what his final smash is?"

"Me, apparently…"

"_I'm fading, make it quick…" _

So Gin did as he was told. For what else could he do? Ignore the curiously tired voice and do his own thing? Or take orders, because it seemed to know what was happening, while Gin himself was still utterly clueless. He decided to roll with it. Fox scrambled quickly to his feet, surprised that Gin could move so fast and hit so hard. Before any one of them could say anything, and at this point in time the anger had faded and Gin had a lot of questions, Fox jumped forwards with a kick aimed at Gin's face. Quickly Gin let go of the axe and brought his hand up, catching his opponent by the face before he could get kicked a good one. Despite himself he smiled.

"Caught you off guard?" he grumbled lowly. His hand, composed of what he could only surmise as corrupted darkness, burned Fox where it came in contact with his skin, singeing his fur and blackening his flesh. Without another word Gin swung his arm around and whipped Fox into the air, finishing off with a powerful downward blow with his axe. Fox gasped in pain once before flying off the stage. Gin had won, and he had no idea how. Cheering relentlessly the crowd began to chant his name, and ignoring them Gin looked down at his axe.

"Where'd you come from?" he asked quietly.

"_I'll be back…"_ it whispered, and Gin wasn't sure whether he was hearing things or the axe really did reply to him. Either way it sounded incredibly tired, and as the effects of the smash ball wore off and Gin found himself standing with his old electric sword again, he realized he was dreadfully tired, too. He sort of half staggered toward to middle of the arena, but found he could hardly stand straight. Slowly he fell to his knees, his eyes already fluttering shut, then to the ground. Instantly he was asleep. And the crowd did not care in the least.

Even their loud cheering couldn't stir him from a dreamless slumber…

~*~

"Damn crazy Aussie and his fucking stupid stunts," muttered Tejed angrily, staring into the crowds. Her lip pulled into a pissed off sneer.

"He gets that blasted smash ball in all his matches and I get _nothing_," she continued, undaunted. She didn't care if the audience could hear her. The match hadn't started yet, so she was entitled to mutter angrily to herself until it did. And throughout the match, as well. She had this disease called 'not caring' and she was damn proud of it. "And whenever he does get it he gets fancy stupid _Aussie_ moves."

Why hadn't the match started, yet? Oh, right. Because her opponent wasn't here. A fact which only managed to anger her more and make the burn stronger.

"And all I have is this god damned burning _itch_ that won't leave me the fuck alone…"

She tried to scratch her arms through her suit but only managed to dull her claws and tarnish her armour. Resigning herself to no anger she took a deep, shuddering breath and willed herself calm, glancing up at the VIP stands. Gin wasn't there. He was sleeping. Whatever it was the smash ball had done to him had drained all his energy, leaving the stands curiously empty. Sarah waved happily at her from Samus' lap, and at the sight Tejed managed a weak smile and waved back. At least she had her tiny little fearless friend to keep her motivated. She diverted her gaze back to the other side of the arena. It was still empty. Her happiness fell.

"I could really go for a smoke right now," she muttered dejectedly, scratching behind one of her too big ears. The Pirate experiment tag she routinely forgot about piercing her right ear jingled lightly against her suit. The soft sound made her smile.

"_But if you smoke all she'll do is ignore you…"_ whispered the voice with a raspy chuckle. Her smile quickly vanished.

"I've decided that I don't give a rat's ass," she snapped angrily. "If Dejet wants to ignore me than so be it. It's better than…" She trailed off, her expression growing decidedly sad.

"_Better than?"_ prodded the voice. Tejed let out a shallow sigh.

"Better than hate…" she finished. A flash of white light signalled the arrival of her opponent and she looked up hopefully, her ears raising a few degrees. Finally, she thought. Finally she could get this fight going. But all too quickly her smile faded and she let out a derisive snort. They weren't kidding when they had told her that her opponent was a pink puff ball. She had taken the description as colourful fancy.

But she really was fighting a marshmallow. And he the first thing he did when he saw her was wave happily and let out a overly happy "hi!"

"Oh god he's so fucking adorable," spat Tejed spitefully, walking forwards to meet him in the center of the arena. The voice seemed to find it humorous and chuckled morbidly at her.

"_All the better to annihilate…"_ it whispered seductively, trailing an icy cold claw across the backs of her eyes. She clenched her eyes shut and shook its icy hold free. The last thing she needed was a headache from its cold, cold embrace.

"Keep your claws out of my mind," she whispered harshly, coming to a stop in front of Kirby. It laughed and retreated to the dark recesses of her psyche.

"_As you wish, Ms. Jenal. But you'll need me eventually. The burn can attest to that…" _

Before she could open her mouth to question its enigmatic wording a loud voice bellowed over the loudspeakers announcing the start of the match. No more questions. Only action. Viciously she lunged forwards in anticipation to stomp on the small puff of pink. He made the mistake by coming here and choosing to fight Tejed. If he got hurt it was his problem.

But instead of soft pink happiness her foot came down on something hard and rocky. She paused and, curiously, lifted her foot. Kirby had morphed into a rock, only to quickly turn back and wave happily up at her, uttering that characteristic and annoyingly drawn out "hi!" he was know for. Tejed sneered and did it again, with the same outcome. She hated him already, for the simple fact that when he looked at her he smiled happily, when all she could do when she looked in a mirror was grimace.

It did nothing except piss her off.

"Why won't you die?" she hissed angrily, stepping back and allowing Kirby to morph one last time. He looked happy enough to make her sick, his optimism in the face of Tejed reminding her too much of Gin. She snorted again. This match wasn't as fun as her last one, probably because her opponent wasn't her idea of, well an opponent. He just smiled at her.

"I'm not fighting you," she muttered angrily. "You're not even a challenge."

He opened his mouth and she cocked an eyebrow.

"What the fuck is your problem?" she snapped. He opened it wider.

"_That doesn't look good, Ms. Jenal…" _

"I thought you were staying quiet!"

"_My lips are sealed…"_

In one fell swoop, before Tejed or the voice knew what was happening, Kirby inhaled her. He simply opened his mouth as wise as he could, switched himself to vacuum mode, and inhaled her, stretching to accommodate her humongous size.

Almost as quickly as he had inhaled her Kirby instantly spat her back out. Something was horribly wrong, and Kirby did not know what it was. His head suddenly hurt, like it was being driven into a wall. His skin burned, as though he was being submerged in acid. And when he managed to crack open an eye everything he saw was bathed in a harsh electric blue. So it came as no surprise when he grabbed at his head and stumbled away from the hybrid, screaming in utter agony. The crowd became silent and Tejed watched, morbidly amused.

"Does it hurt?" she hissed, watching the pink ball tear at his head in a vain attempt to set his new demons free. But they were a little too cozy in his head and refused to leave, a fact which drove Kirby a little over the deep end.

"Do you like their voices?" Tejed continued lowly, laughing at his struggle. "Do you like the way they whisper sweet nothings into your cerebral cortex and _claw_ at your _mind_?"

Kirby screamed again, crying glowing tears, the phazon arcing from his eyes and crawling possessively across his face. Tejed's amused grin faded and she cocked her head to the side, still bothered by her own voices, her own burning itch underneath her skin.

"…You don't like it, do you?" she whispered harshly. "So then…Why do I…?" In response to her enigmatic question Kirby fell to his hands and knees, crying and leaking liquid contagion over the clean arena floor. Sure, there was to be no blood here. Wounds healed quick, closed up of their own accord. But Phazon was not blood. It was something different. It was a poison, it was a contagion; it was pure radiation. And it could bleed out all it wanted for as long as it wanted. Like it was doing with Kirby.

"_I knew you loved me…"_ whispered the voice, oh so gently, oh so cajoling.

"I hate you," Tejed snapped, momentarily forgetting about Kirby and focusing inward, to the broken shards of her mind and her own personal demon. And all it did was laugh at her, though it seemed, in some strange sort of way, that it, too, was in pain. Although it would never admit it.

"_No, I know you love me,"_ it continued sweetly. _"You'd be oh so very lost if I weren't here, talking to you…" _

"Fuck off!" she yelled angrily, for a moment taking on the same frenzied scratching at her head that Kirby was.

"_Feeding you lies…" _

"Get out of my head!"

"_Making you see things…" _

"Fuck you all!" the hybrid screamed, both terrified and infuriated at the same time. The voice chuckled quietly to itself, diligently ignoring the burn like Tejed was.

"_Bending you to my whims…" _

"Get off the fucking stage!" Tejed yelled, switching her focus from her inner conflict to Kirby. Without warning, and royally pissed off for some reason she couldn't fully understand, she gave the pink ball a good kick in the face, sending him sailing over the edge with a terrified scream. Excess Phazon from his raw overdose splattered over her front, and where the blue radiation would burn anyone else, instead it seeped gently into the cracks of Tejed's suit, embracing her skin underneath and leaching into her bloodstream. She didn't notice. She was too angry.

And the anger felt good, kicking her into a state of momentary bliss. Of ecstasy. s

The teleportation failed to kick in and Kirby hit the far off ground with a quiet thud. Angrily Tejed peered over the edge. He was so very far down, a puff of bright pink in a slowly growing puddle of corrupted blue. At the sight of it Tejed grinned crookedly.

"I killed you," she whispered maniacally, starting to giggle quietly. It seemed so hilarious, the grand finale of his death. A puff of pink in a puddle of blue, killed by the one thing that kept Tejed alive. "I killed you!" The crowd, cheering earlier, had fallen silent. Far below Kirby did not move.

"I _fucking_ KILLED _YOU_!!" she screeched, still smiling. Nay, _grinning_ wildly. Far below a group of assorted alien doctors rushed to Kirby's side, each one intent on saving his life. Kirby gasped and opened his eyes, breathing shallowly. He wasn't dead. Not yet. But if he didn't get help fast, he sure as hell would be. Only a handful of creatures could withstand direct contact to Phazon without either dying or losing it. And Tejed was one of them, even though she herself had lost it long ago.

"You see that?!" she yelled to the crowd. "He'd DEAD! I'm the winner! Shout my name!!"

Silence.

"…YELL FOR ME!!" she cried desperately. Anything to get her mind off the burn. Her opponent had lost and she no longer had anything to distract herself with. It was driving her off the wall. The crowd remained stubbornly silent and in a momentary surge of full on panic she fell to her knees and began to hyperventilate, wrapping her too long arms around her stomach.

"Yell for me…Please…"

"_They don't love you,"_ whispered the voice seductively. _"Not like I do…" _

"Yell my name…" she whimpered, holding her head. "This burn is too much…"

One of the cameras zoomed up to her for a close up of her grief stricken face, projecting it onto the huge holo-screens ringing the arena. To say she looked like a mess was putting it lightly. And when she finally acknowledged the camera and smiled crookedly at it the audience started murmuring quietly to themselves.

"Hello…" she hissed at the camera, gently letting go of her head. "Did you come to sate my agony…?"

"Let's get you out of here," it replied quietly, and in a sudden fit of paranoia and anger she lashed out at it, her long and sharp claws slicing it cleanly in half. It spluttered and fell lifelessly to the ground, its twin propeller blades swatting fitfully at the ground before all its powers were drained.

"That's not my name!" she yelled, terrified. The burn increased and she screamed, a harsh inhuman sound, staring at the crowd as if pleading for release. And when her scream died down her eyes landed on that same jutting overhand her friends preferred to sit in, only this time when she saw her sister there was no longer the mild disgust from her first match. Now it was outright fear; a curious and jarring mix of terror and revulsion.

So, with a heavy heart, Tejed awaited another camera to escort her from the arena. For where was the joy in winning if she felt so utterly abhorrent?

~*~

"What are you doing?"

"…Something…Leave me alone…"

Zotch'Ti, still trapped aboard Tejed's ship with the unkillable idiot M'nark, was diligently tapping away at the main console, eyes flicking up towards the huge screen. Curious M'nark peered over his shoulder, watching his fingers clack away at the keys. It would be giving M'nark too much credit to say he understood what was going on; all he saw were computer keys with alien symbols etched in them. Constantly trying to kill himself had ruined his mind, so with a shrug he turned away. Zotch'Ti was boring him, anyhow.

"What if she comes back?" he asked, his voice droll. The scientist stiffened at the remark and sort of half turned, casting a frightened mechanical eye at M'nark.

"…She won't…" he replied quietly, before turning back to the console. He hoped she wouldn't, not yet, anyhow. He wished sorely to see her again, to get it through to her that he felt nothing but shame for his actions. But if she came now, then Zotch'Ti could say goodbye to the other half of his face. And he liked the other half of his face, organic eye and all.

M'nark snorted in annoyance and kicked a bloodied chunk of machinery away. It clanked noisily into the shadows and Zotch'Ti winced at the sudden noise, glancing furtively over his shoulder.

"I'm bored," announced M'nark loudly. His abrupt and uncaring mannerisms were starting to grate on Zotch'Ti's already frazzled nerves, and without thinking the scientist snapped angrily, "I don't care! Go somewhere else if I bore you!" M'nark stared at the back of his head and blinked once, a slow deliberate motion.

"Goodbye," he announced, turning his back to his creator. Zotch'Ti let out a sigh as M'nark left. That damned Pirate had the remarkable ability to break Zotch'Ti's mind and more than once he contemplated killing him, before he remembered that M'nark couldn't die no matter how hard he tried. And the thought always depressed him something awful. So, with the obnoxious pest gone, the tired Pirate once again set his sights back to the console. Where M'nark saw nothing more than unintelligible gibberish Zotch'Ti saw English words, a language he had spent the better part of a year learning. And he was almost fluent in it.

He hit a key off to the side, hoping his plan would work. The camera up in the corner swivelled to watch him but Jarvis said nothing. A fizzle of electricity and the main screen finally lit up, along with Zotch'Ti's face. His antennae rose in excitement.

"Finally…" he muttered in harsh Zebesian, a language he much preferred over English. While English indeed had its perks he was far more comfortable hearing his native tongue leave his mouth, instead of the curiously soft words the humans favoured. Before him a map of the known galaxy popped up, and not missing a beat Zotch'Ti directed it to the outer reaches of Federation space, where it zoomed in on a small, inconspicuous patch of blackness just to the right of hot red Albedaran, a giant star that comprised the base of the constellation Scorpius when seen from Earth.

Zotch'Ti chuckled quietly to himself at the subtle irony. Scorpius was the scorpion, a vicious little Earth creature with a wicked barbed stinger on its tale. In the vicinity of Albedaran lay the frigate he had created TransFuse on. A mean spirited experiment from an evil ship hiding in a scorpion constellation. In some strange way Zotch'Ti found it funny.

And then the console let out a loud beep and the Pirate jumped, startled. He had made contact, the transmission had gone through. Quickly he made himself somewhat presentable and awaited the other side. He had been certain it wouldn't work, so when it did, of course he found himself not ready. A mechanical click, a buzz of white noise. The screen faded to black before fading back in, this time showing another Pirate, only this one had his entire face. And he looked terrified.

"Zotch'Ti!" he whispered harshly in his native language, his voice high pitched. He sounded like he had been running, was out of breath. Or in fear of getting caught.

"We only have a short time," replied Zotch'Ti, his eyes searching behind his friend. He could just make out activity behind the scrawny little creature: the rest of Science Team. And…Zotch'Ti's eyes went wide. The High Commander himself, far off in the back overseeing something. "Quex'ot, how's the Tiger coming?" In response the scientist, Zotch'Ti's only remaining friend inside Science Team, pulled out a small device and stuck it into the terminal, glancing quickly behind himself. The High Commander was still busy.

"It's at 63% completion, sir," he stuttered, initiating an upload. "Here's all the recent data, both on the Tiger and O.M.M.R. I swiped it all off the main data grid before the High Commander could wipe it." At that Zotch'Ti smiled. Quex'ot had always been one of his closest friends. They had known each other for a long time, and when Zotch'Ti had confided in him that he wanted to escape, Quex'ot hadn't run to his superiors. He had helped.

The upload completed and Quex'ot gave another backwards glance. The High Commander was gone and by proxy the Pirate looked terrified. He looked back at his old boss and managed a weak smile.

"Good luck, Zotch'Ti," he said quickly, yanking his data stick free. "I hope you manage to stop this madness."

"I hope I do, too," he replied quietly. "Now get back to work. You've already been gone for too long." Quex'ot nodded once and terminated the connection, the screen abruptly flickering to black, and Zotch'Ti leaned back, suddenly very, very tired. All he had to do now was wait for Tejed to return. And he hoped he could explain everything to her.

~*~

Night in this alternate dimension wasn't all that different from night on planet Earth. The sky darkened and everything became quiet. Even the sporadic flashes of dark purple evened down to a near stop, only alighting once every thirty or so minutes instead of every half a second. There was no fighting during the night, it was a time purely for rest and relaxation.

And intrigue.

This was a place for fun. An event held every four years where the fighters of multiple different species could revel in the primal joy of the fight and spectators could come and watch a good show. Why else would it be called Valhalla, the mythical hall of Odin? Where warriors who died in battle could spend the rest of eternity fighting and feasting? A fitting name for such a place.

And yet, even after the fighting had ended for the day and everyone had retired to the calmness of their own sub conscious, there was still activity in the area. There were whispered voices and quiet shuffling and the passing of important information. In many ways Valhalla was just as much alive as it was during the during the daytime. It was just a different kind of life, the kind that preferred the shadows and the dark as opposed to the bright glaring sun.

And the cloaked figure running quickly through a narrow alleyway was, of course, no exception.

The figure ran at a brisk pace, its feet clipping the ground with sharp, fast notes. A hurry? No, it wasn't in a hurry. Nor could its important date wait. It was a cool, clear night, and there was only one reason for the frenzied running: because it was good. Cold air bit against the figure's hooded face and sent adrenaline running through her veins. If anything she could run through the cold night air for the rest of eternity, with nothing but the sibilant whispers of the soft breeze and the ever watchful night sky to keep her company. But alas, she couldn't, because she had important things to see to.

She slowed to a stop at the end of the alleyway and peered around the corner. Not because she was afraid of being watched or attacked, but from old, old habit. Either way the coast was clear, and with the only thing visible under her hood a wild smiled she whirled around and ran back down the alley, this time picking up speed. Until with one powerful kick she jumped at the wall and kicked off, propelling herself up in a dizzying volley of acrobatics and strength.

Good old wall jumps. Always did save time when someone had to get high fast. And they were extremely fun to pull off.

A flowing black cape, a glimpse of tightly worn leather, a small pack slung across the back. The figure landed atop the roof and stared out, eyes falling on a similar form standing resolute at the other side of the roof. She allowed herself a small smile: she had found her contact. Without further ado she strode purposely towards him, keeping up an air of authority. She was in command, she wasn't scared. And even if she was she'd be damned if she showed it.

"Ah, Ms. Wolf," the tall imperious figure said quietly, his voice as smooth as silk. "A fitting name, now that I see you in person. Fits you well…"

She stopped in front of him and stood tall and proud, her face obscured by her hood.

"I hear you managed to dredge up some information?" He nodded once and procured from the inside of his coat a single pad of paper. She eyed it curiously. Written information? Her contact hadn't been kidding when he had described himself as old fashioned.

"He's here, alright," her informant started. Where Wolf obscured her face in a hood and her body in a cloak, her contact wore nothing more than a simple black jacket, leaving his face for the world to see. "Currently living aboard his ship with about…three other people. Maybe four. I haven't yet gotten a good look inside." Wolf just smiled wryly.

"Same ship?" she inquired. Her contact looked up from his notes and nodded once. "And do you know where they're off to when this is over?" He flipped through his pages until settling on one in particular.

"Uh…Be'Ach 7," he replied. She turned away and her contact cleared his throat, asked hesitantly with a cautious step towards her, "So…Why do you need this information…?"

She stopped at the edge of the building and looked back at him. For the briefest of seconds a rogue light managed to slip underneath her hood, illuminating her eyes in a flash of bright yellow.

"I have my own personal agenda to attend to," was her curt reply.

And without another word Wolf jumped backwards off the roof and disappeared, a pair of wickedly curved daggers glinting from her waist before she was gone. The tall man whipped out his communicator, suddenly afraid she hadn't paid him. But there it was. All five thousand of the credits he had been promised. And with a swish of his black jacket he disappeared, as well.

And the night was silent once again.


	19. Chapter 19

_When one dies their essence returns to the cosmos from where it was born, waiting to be reused, recycled back into the flesh. There is a finite amount of life energy in the universe, and as some species rise others fall to maintain the balance. It is as it has always been. _

_So it came as a complete surprise when, even though their life energies were clearly locked away, their shells continued to reincarnate again and again and again. Over the millennia the lineage continued, one individual at a time the chosen shell. They exist only to serve as a mortal body. No more, no less. It… Doesn't make much sense to us. But then, the universe is full of secrets, some waiting to be discovered and others hidden far, far away. _

_But this arises so many new questions. Does the universe want these two enemies to exist? If Baldur and Sypher were ever to regain their bodies, these shells set aside just for them, how would two separate life energies coexist? How would one consciousness, aeons old, get along with another, aeons young? Do the reincarnated shells even possess a mind of their own? Or is it merely a piece of the demons themselves? What if one of the shells were to obtain its own mind, and revoke its purpose of life? _

_So many what ifs. So many questions…

* * *

_

"Gin, what exactly happened during your match?"

"How do you mean, Samus?" he asked with a carefree smile. "I won. What more is there to it?" She didn't look all that impressed.

"You got the smash ball and…Something happened…" She trailed off, let her words sink in. Gin didn't exactly follow and, just like Tejed, cocked his head to the side, confused. Samus sighed. "You've been sleeping for the past day, Gin. Doesn't that strike you as odd?" He glanced out the nearest window at the bright sky and smiled, shrugging.

"I feel great," he replied jovially. "I really don't see what the problem is if-"

"-Watch," she interrupted, forcefully grabbing his head and twisting it so he looked into the ship's main screen. He winced in pain at the sudden movement but didn't complain. He simply felt too good to complain. And for the first thirty or so seconds of replayed footage, all he saw was a fight between him and Fox.

"Right…There!"

She paused the footage and looked at Gin meaningfully. He just stared back, not fully understanding what she was getting at. The Hunter sighed. She liked Gin, she really did. Otherwise she wouldn't be living on his ship and sleeping with him. But sometimes the thickness of his skull was really annoying. Like right now. She pointed at the screen.

"Look, there's the smash ball, right?" she asked, pointing at the ball hanging languidly above Fox. Gin nodded. She then pointed at the picture of him on the screen. "And there's you, right? Before you jumped at it?" He nodded again. "Now tell me, Mr. Phoenix. What colour are you eyes?" He inspected the screen, still not exactly sure what she was getting at. It was a beautiful day and he felt better than he had in years. Why all the confusion and questioning when they could be outside?

"Gin, are you listening?"

Gin snapped awake. He had been staring out the window instead of at the holo screen. He smiled sheepishly and glanced at himself.

"…They're red," he said with a nervous sort of chuckle. Had they been red? He really didn't remember, now that he looked back on it. Not that he could tell what colour his eyes were in the first place, not unless he detached from his own body and looked back at himself. Which, he decided, was impossible.

"Yes, Gin. They're red," confirmed Samus. "Now look at the sky for me. Tell me what's happening there?"

"…It looks like a storm is blowing in," he answered happily, looking outside. "And it looks like the storm passed, so why don't we go outside and-"

"-Stay here and watch this with me," she interrupted. "It's important."

"But Samus!"

"Stay!"

Reluctantly he pulled up a chair and took a seat beside her, exhaling an audible sigh as he did so. She gave him a sideways glance, as though suddenly unsure of just who he was.

"I've been doing some research," she said after a moment. "About that fancy electric sword of yours. Do you know where it came from?"

"My parents," was his quick response. At that Samus smiled slightly.

"No, I mean do you know why it was made? Who it was made for? What its purpose is?" Gin shrugged, perplexed. He had never put any real thought towards his sword's origins. HE always had a million other important things to attend to, anyhow. A mere electric knife, no matter how intriguing, had never been high on his list of priorities.

"I've been reading old Luminoth lore," the Hunter continued. She sounded hesitant. Gin remained silent, listening. "What I found was…Somewhat disturbing, to say the least. Baldur was…Well, let's just say he was evil, okay? And he tried to kill everyone. And Sypher defeated him. The Chozo took Baldur's soul and sealed it away…" She trailed off, but it seemed as though Gin was still at a loss. Despite herself Samus allowed herself a facepalm.

"Gin, what does it say on your sword?" He stared at her for a moment.

"…Baldur…" he replied quietly.

"And on the other side?"

"…Master of War…?"

"Yes! Now put two and two together and you get…?" He thought for a moment.

"Are you saying…that the Chozo sealed an ancient evil inside my sword and its starting to wake up?"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm saying!" she exclaimed, ecstatic that she had finally gotten through to him. Gin laughed.

"That's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard!" he said happily, standing. "I think all the fighting's gone to your head, Samus. Let's go outside and breath some fresh air and-"

"-Sit!"

"…Okay," he muttered, sitting again, his pride wounded. Samus turned back to the holo screen.

"Now tell me, Gin. Do you remember when this happened?"

She let the footage play through again and Gin resigned himself to dutifully watching, arms across his chest in minor annoyance that he was being kept inside when he felt so utterly happy. He watched as he jumped upwards to get to the smash ball, laughing quietly to himself. He watched as his sword made contact and shattered the tough casing that had become so fragile through the beating. He watched as the blue mist from the smash ball faded to a dark simmering red before enveloping him. And then he sat up straight, confused, for he did not remember the next part happening at all.

"Wait, what happened there?" he asked, confused, a shaking finger pointed at the screen that Samus had paused once again. She smiled at him.

"You tell me, oh Master of War." He shook his head.

"I don't remember that happening."

"Of course you don't," she replied smoothly, draping an arm over his shoulders. "Now tell me. Where _did_ you get that sword of yours? The one etched with runes and sparking with electricity?"

"My parents?" was his meek response, staring at the screen with wide eyes. That wasn't him, was it? He didn't remember such a thing taking place on the battlefield…Did he? He remembered some sort of glimmering golden axe, yes. And, vaguely, a hand made of corrosive darkness. But he had dismissed such memories upon awakening as dreams, as nothing more than his mind adding some extra extravagance to an otherwise average fight. The holo screen, though, told him otherwise. And last time he had checked, the hole screens here weren't prone to lying.

"And where'd they get it?" asked Samus, intent on rending all the information she could out of him.

"I have no idea. They were rich. They probably bought it somewhere…"

"And gave it to you?"

"I was the only one who could touch it…" Samus gave an ironic chuckle.

"Oh, gee. I wonder why…"

Gin couldn't really take this anymore. Sure, he felt better than he had in years. He must've let out so much anger that had been boiling up inside of him that he was, for the first time in a hell of a long time, completely empty of all his pent up anger. And that felt good. But staring at the screen, staring at what the Smash Ball had made of him, taking tender hold of Samus' words, well, he could only take so much before he cracked. And cracked he did, a few short seconds later. For without the anger weighing him down he could finally let all his sorrow out, too.

Crying softly he fell sideways into Samus' arms, overwhelmed with a sadness he hadn't felt in ages. They say real men don't cry. That's a lie. Real men are the ones who aren't afraid to show their emotions, no matter how distressing they can get. Samus was, for lack of a better term, surprised, and tenderly hugged him.

"…Are you crying, Gin?" she said softly. She had never seen him cry before and this was a surprise.

"…Maybe," was his quiet response. Samus allowed herself a sort of half smile, a tender little upturn of the corners of her mouth.

"Why?"

"…I don't know…"

And at that moment Tejed came stumbling in, her face registering a blank expression and overlayed with a hard edge. A bottle of alcohol dangled precariously in her grasp, clinking almost musically against her talons. Ever since her win she had been holed out in the back of Gin's ship, for hers remained stationed back on Earth. Good thing she had decided to bring along some of her favourite alcohol. It made her feel marginally less disgusted with herself.

"Are you _crying_, Gin?" she snapped angrily. Heavily she fell against the door frame before diligently drawing herself back up again. Hammered? That was putting it lightly. She was so drunk chronic alcoholics would be impressed. Or revolted. Either or.

"Do you need a… a HUG? From S-s-samus?"

All the two hunters could do was stare. There was no sense talking to her when she was this far gone, anyhow. She'd only ignore and misunderstand their words and snap irately at them. But then the hard edge fell and she stifled a sob, almost dropping the bottle with what would have been a tremendous crash.

"Do you need a hug?" she repeated softer, straightening. She sighed huskily and abruptly left the room, shambling out of the ship on unsteady legs, muttering a steady stream of "Crying… Hugs… Why are you crying?" to herself. Gin sighed and allowed Samus to hold him for a moment longer, thankful for her love, before retreating from her embrace and wiping his face.

"And here I thought being an ex-Elite was the worst of my problems," he muttered with a heavy sigh. No. There was no time for sadness, not when he felt so utterly _alive_. He had to go out and enjoy himself before the anger built up again. Unlike Tejed Gin preferred to keep his anger inside instead of showing it to the world. Samus chuckled to herself and stood, Gin following suit.

"When your last name is Masters there's always more problems," she said playfully. And Gin just smiled.

"I know, eh?" he replied, pushing the image of the smash ball from his mind. "It's like a curse."

Footsteps down the hallway, pattering away in the morning light. Dejet came in, stopped, looked around, and approached Gin and Samus. She seemed worried.

"Have you seen my sister?" she asked quietly. She was still shy around Samus, as she was around anyone new. A trait both her and Tejed shared. Or at least, used to share. Gin shrugged and pointed out the main exit while Samus remained, as always, quiet.

"She went trudging outside with a bottle of screech. Looked right drunk. Be careful if you find her."

Dejet looked out the doorway, mulling over her thoughts, before uttering a quiet thank you and leaving the ship. For a few scant seconds, silence. Before Samus elbowed Gin in the ribs and he yelped in abject surprise, throwing her a hurt look.

"What kind of a thing to say is that?" she berated. "She's her sister, for Pete's sake. 'Be careful if you find her'? That's not going to help their relationship at all."

Gin opened his mouth, thought better of it, and instead sighed heavily, looking around his ship. It seemed as though nothing was ever right, he thought with a mental groan. Something was always wrong, no matter how good everything seemed. Either Tejed was losing it or her sister was sad or Vince was being an asshole or someone was after them. This may have been a change from all the running, but things still somehow managed to be wrong, and Gin hated that. He hated that so very much.

He had to get it off his mind, at least for a little while. This newfound happiness after so much repressed emotion was invigorating. Sure, he had a match to get ready for, but there were other things to see to, as well. His sword being one of them. And he knew exactly where to start.

"There's a man I used to look up to," he said quietly, changing the subject suddenly. Samus looked at him curiously. "He went by Runemind. He was a treasure hunter. I have a few of his books. He probably knows something about…" He trailed off and Samus gave a small smile.

"About that interesting sword of yours?" And Gin shyly smiled back.

"About this interesting sword of mine."

And they spent the next few hours doing nothing but reading. And the information they found was interesting, indeed.

* * *

Nobody came near her. Everyone stayed far, far away. And she just glared, sullenly, breathing heavily through clenched and bared teeth and scratching with violent fervour at her arms.

"Four days," she hissed angrily. "I've only been here for four days. What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"_Wrong with us...?" _

"It usually takes a few weeks for the Phazon to build up," she continued lowly. Since she had begun publicly talking to herself the Tournament guests made sure to say extra far away from her. And the blood dripping thickly from her continuous scratching made them stay extra, extra far away. "Why the bloody fuck did it build up so fast?" Thick round holes of hissing black peppered the ground where her blood fell, constant reminders that there was something seriously wrong with her.

"_That you can't control,"_ taunted the voice with a half-hearted snicker.

"Shut up," she snapped, an automatic response anymore. It didn't work, of course, and it continued to laugh softly at the back of her mind before falling suddenly silent. She cocked her head to the side, listening. Complete silence.

"…What's wrong?" she asked quietly. No answer. For a moment she felt deathly afraid. Anything that could silence and pain something that did not exist except in her own head must have been bad. But a few short seconds later its laughter started up again and she relaxed. She'd never admit it to anyone, least of all the voice, but without it her mind seemed far too empty.

"_Burning for release,"_ it whispered softly. _"Give it some release…"_

"I would if I could…"

"_This place ruined us,"_ it continued after a short pause. It sounded almost tired, as though the pain was affecting it much more than it was Tejed. _"They've taken something crucial and removed it, put a lock on it. You can't push it back, can you? They've chained us up. They've taken our soul…" _ Tejed snorted angrily.

"I never had a soul," was her bitter reply.

"_Oh? And why do you say that…?" _

"The pirates took it," she said quietly, softly, the burn for a few short seconds lessening. "They stole it when they took what made me human." The voice was silent, thinking. When it spoke again it seemed just as sad as she did.

"_They can take everything they want,"_ it said. _"Everything they need. But they can never separate us… We'll always be together…"_

"I'm not sure if that's good or bad…" Tejed muttered dejectedly. The burn started anew, this time stronger. She screwed her eyes shut and grimaced in pain. And the voice did what it was best at: it laughed.

"_Take it as you will, Ms. Jenal. Take it as you will…" _

Tejed did not respond to the enigmatic wording and with a scowl went right back to what she had been doing earlier: scratching angrily at her arms. So fanatical was she that she failed to notice or care when Gin hesitantly took a seat beside her. The only thing that filled her mind was the _burn_ and how it had to be dispelled.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Tejed?"

She flinched and shakily looked over at him, angry.

"What the fuck do you mean?" she snapped irritably, scratching incessantly. Now wasn't the time for paltry chatter.

"You've been out of it ever since we came here a week ago."

Gin sounded genuinely concerned. He had even moved closer to her, something which he never did. He tended to keep his distance. Gently he took hold of Tejed's hand, stopping the almost fevered scratching. He glanced at her arms. They were covered in scratches and cuts from her bloody talons, many of them already starting to bleed and many more scabbed over. Gently he turned her arm over so he could see the underside. She made no move to resist. Same result, covered in bleeding gashes. And her skin was slightly hotter than usual, too.

"You've been scratching for hours," he commented quietly, letting go of her hand. She clasped her hands in her lap and tried her best to ignore the irritating feeling in her skin, the sensation of bugs crawling under her flesh. It wasn't easy.

"I'm itchy," she replied curtly, clenching her hands into shuddering fists. The sensation was rising again and she needed desperately to quell it. She ignored it anyway. Gin just sighed and leaned back against the bench's backrest, still eyeing her gashes. It was just like Tejed to violently say no to help, no matter how honest it was. Tired by his recent fight, he turned his attention up to her face. As usual it was stuck in its expressionless deadpan stare, though her upper lip was twitching slightly and her maxillae were quivering. With a small jolt and a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach he realized her eyes had a distinct blue glint to them, a haze of glowing sapphire covering her yellow eyes like a veil. He had opened his mouth to comment on it when he was cut off by the loudspeakers overhead.

"Match five about to start! Repeat, match five about to start!" it yelled loudly, getting the attention of the milling crowds. "Would Marth and Tejed Jenal please proceed to the center arena! I repeat, please proceed, Marth an-"

"GOD FUCK, FINALLY!" the hybrid yelled, standing so fast she almost knocked over Gin. A few of the milling crowd around her turned to look curiously, impressed by her tall stature and her colourful choice of words. And Gin, well, Gin wasn't quite sure if that had been a primal joy he had heard in her broken voice or simmering hate. Maybe it was both.

"You sure seem excited," he said quietly. The crowds had started to move and by proxy started to get loud. Tejed heard anyway and glanced down at him, grinning widely. He groaned. It was her sadistic grin. She _was_ happy.

"You bet I'm excited, you wheedley little spit-fuck," she said harshly. Gin was used to her insults. It was her special way of showing affection. Unfortunately it was also how she showed anger. "I haven't gotten any action for a week. I'm just _itching_ to kill something."

"You…You know there's no killing here…Right?" Gin reminded cautiously. The hybrid just scoffed and peered towards the center arena. It was all set up and ready to be fought on.

"Killing, fighting," she mused, still smiling savagely. She turned back to him. "In the end it all vents my rage."

"I bet it does."

She gave him a sort of lopsided salute and quickly bounded off towards the stage, not caring about anyone who got in her way. There were a few cries of annoyance and the hunter facepalmed. Whatever was wrong with her, whatever it was that was causing her such discomfort, he hoped it didn't interfere with her fight.

* * *

"MOTHER FUCKING _GOD FORSAKEN __**PIECE OF SHIT **__**SMASH BALL**_**!" **

It floated serenely overhead, mocking her in some obscure way that only Tejed could understand. In many ways, the hybrid was built almost exactly like her ship. She was capable of quick bursts of speed but couldn't really jump all that high. Unlike her opponent. An obnoxious flying masked ball of annoyance apparently named Meta Knight. Not that Tejed had been listening when his name had been announced. She was too busy trying to grab that god damned smash ball and, well, smash it open. For a brief moment the smash ball came to a still hover a few feet above the arena and Tejed ran for it, ecstatic. Meta Knight smacked her with the flat of his blade, slowing her, and a moment later it flew away. She screamed in rage and turned on him, but he was already high in the air.

She snarled. The bastard was all about the leaps and bounds and peppering her with petty little attacks that on second glance actually did a bit of damage if only because he was smacking her upside the head every other second. The whole ordeal was starting to piss her off and she had taken to her favourite way of showing it: yelling obscenely. And loudly.

"You piece of FILTHY VERMIN!" she screeched, her voice scratching painfully on Meta Knight's hearing. It wasn't that he had exceptionally good hearing, it was that her voice was exceptionally painful to listen to. He winced and jumped back, eye on both her and the smash ball. "When I get my CLAWS on you I'm going to RIP YOU _APART_!"

Her foe alighted gently on the opposite side of the arena and flicked his cape tauntingly over his shoulder, staring her down from the other side of a worn mask. Her mind not exactly working correctly and blinded by her anger, she charged, utilizing one of the sudden bursts of speed she was capable of. And she was quite fast. She arrived at the spot Meta Knight had been mere seconds earlier in exactly two seconds. _Had been_, being of course the key phrase. Without warning she felt another stab of pain as he smacked her yet again with the flat of his blade, this time straight to the temple. Her vision flickered and she screamed.

"_The smash ball, Ms. Jenal! The smash ball!"_ the voice yelled franticly, tugging her head towards it. Twitching she instantly forgot about Meta Knight and ran towards it with single minded intensity. Unknown to her, her eyes had alighted to bright, electric blue: an external sign of an internal reaction. Something that Gin, so far up in the stands, could do nothing about except sigh and continue to watch. She was so close, too. So very close to the item that would grant her reprieve from her personal hell. All she had to do was grab it, so close, and smash the bloody thing open…

Meta Knight grabbed it from the air and broke it open in front of the crazed hybrid and she stopped suddenly, staring with unreadable eyes.

"Why would you do that?" she whispered harshly. Her opponent began to glow in the manner of one possessed with untold power. She stood still, staring. "Why?" Her mind couldn't comprehend why this person, if he could even be called one, would go and steal her relief away when it was plain how much she was suffering. It was inconceivable to her.

So, while it came as a surprise to Meta Knight, the only thing Tejed felt she could do was sit back and take the punishment. And take the punishment she did. The silky feel of Meta Knight's cape was the first nice thing she had felt in months, before she was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness followed all too quickly by pain, pain, and more pain. He came at her from every angle, slicing and dicing and about ready to make crispy hybrid fries out of her. When the darkness cleared she was standing in the same position, covered in all manner of injuries, still staring. Far up on the holo screens her damage percentile read in the high 200's. Meta Knight jumped far back and stood at the ready, sword held by his side. Tejed took a shuddering breath and spoke.

"I need the smash ball to survive," she started huskily, her breathing becoming deep and laboured. "I n-need it to stop the spread of corruption and c-continue to live."

Under his mask Meta Knight frowned, curious despite himself. Tejed took a step towards her foe, her expression a curious mixture of intense sorrow and glee. A sudden pain in her heart caused her to grab her chest and Meta Knight flinched accordingly but the pain passed as quick as it had come. Tejed did not want to know why even her heart was beginning to pain her and shoved the thoughts from her mind.

"I'm going to die," she said lowly, a thin line of brilliant, radioactive blue leaking out of the corner of her mouth. "If I don't enter Berserker. I'm going to die if I let the phazon build up. I'm going to die if I don't give in and _burn it off. _If I don't get the _fucking smash ball_."

Another line of Phazon started its slow journey from her nose, inching ever so slowly down her scarred face.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Jenal," said Meta Knight politely, the first words he had spoken since the fight began. He lifted his weapon. "But I'm here to win a tournament."

Meta Knight did not believe a word the hybrid had just said. He was a long time competitor here, and even though he had won few tournaments he knew what people were like. They lied, and they lied a lot. So of course he construed her story as pure fantasy, as make believe. She wanted to win, he had seen it in her earlier fights, as a spectator. She was no different than anyone else here and Meta Knight wasn't about ready to let this newbie steal his thunder.

So, without another word, he jumped forwards and landed a good smack upside her head with the flat of his blade only to quickly jump out of reach again. It was that same god damned fighting style she was ever so slowly beginning to hate. Screaming in rage and pain from the Phazon she grabbed her ears and brought them down beside her face, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to pull away from his incessant and quite obnoxious string of attacks.

"_We can't let this happen, Ms. Jenal,"_ warned the voice worriedly. _"If this keeps up we're as good as dead…" _

"Or phazon corrupted for life…" she sobbed. A narrow miss from the sword left a new hole in her ear.

"_Enter Berserker. You have to, regardless of that damn smash ball…" _

"I can't!" she yelled, falling to her knees. Undeterred by what he took as an elaborate farce Meta Knight continued to attack undaunted, opening up fresh wounds that refused to bleed and denting her once glorious suit. "I can't! They took it away! I'm helpless!"

"_You're not fucking HELPLESS!"_ screamed the voice, clawing at her mind. _"You are an experiment! You are a warrior! YOU ARE A KILLER! And you're DAMN STRONG! Now do it for me!"_

Her head jerked violently to the side but she remained on her knees with her eyes closed, crying tears of pure phazon. Meta Knight finally paused in his relentless attack, confused by her apparent pain and her one sided conversation with something only she could hear. He lowered his sword and glanced back at the audience. They had gone silent, watching with rapt attention what would happen next.

"_You can't do it, Ms. Jenal. Those bastards saw to that. Too bad they didn't count on this little loop hole…" _

Without waiting for an answer it struck, and instead of pushing it away like she had so many times before Tejed stepped to the side and allowed it full access. For the first time, they had switched places completely and utterly. The voice inside her head, now the one operating the body. And Tejed herself, now a meaningless whisper in the back of her own consciousness. A switch that she normally would have resisted with all her might but that now felt strangely natural.

Her glazed eyes suddenly caught radioactive fire and she exhaled a cloud of hot blue mist, smiling savagely. Slowly she lifted her head to the wind and gave a short huff, catching a million subtle scents. And one of them in particular set her heart a fluttering: fear, as dank and strong as it was. Another hefty breath and she looked back at Meta Knight, grinning dangerously.

"It's so nice to be out of that cage," she hissed lowly. "Finally… After… So very long…" She trailed off into mordant laughter and drew a hand across her scars. Meta Knight readied himself even as the crowd remained silent; confused and anxious.

Tejed was the first to initiate the fight, by way of her shoulder cannon. And, though Meta Knight saw it coming, his reaction time was not fast enough. A charged beam of energy hit him square in the face, cracking his already tattered mask. The crowd instantly broke into cheering and Meta Knight, dazed, somehow managed to find his feet. Instantly he found himself pinned to the ground, Tejed staring into his eyes. She weighed a god damned tonne and he couldn't move. He was trapped, and he felt fear.

"Scream for me, Mr. Knight," the voice seethed, her face pushed into his mask. Hot curls of her fetid breath wormed their way underneath his mask and he gagged, the stench of her rank breath overpowering. But he did not scream. He didn't so much as utter a noise, and despite his insistence Tejed, no longer operating under her own will but going along with it anyhow, smiled like a feral beast.

"Fine, don't scream," she hissed. A thick gob of drool splattered against his mask. Meta Knight flinched. "It'll only make your demise so much more… Unique…" And at that she laughed, chainsaw grumbling hungrily beside his head. To say the voice, a byproduct of a split mind and for all intents and purposes not real, enjoyed this newfound control was putting it lightly. Whether it knew it or not, it was dragging out the match. It was stalling. Maybe, unconsciously, it didn't want to go back to the cage in the back of Tejed's head. Or maybe it just liked drawing things out for the added drama. Either way, it was so intent, so obsessed, with her new playtoy's fear, that she never noticed when he got his sword arm free. Tejed did, however, watching as she was from the corner of her eye. Her warning came too late.

The sword came up fast into her chest, ripping through the armour and burying itself deep in dark green flesh. Something snapped, most likely a rib or two, and Tejed screamed. Instantly she pulled away, her sudden motion yanking the sword from Meta Knight's hand. Pained, she stumbled to her feet. It was almost comical, a seven foot tall hybrid standing there confused with a sword sticking from her chest. Both Tejed and the voice found no humour in the situation.

"You _fucker_!" she screamed, grabbing the hilt with both hands. With a grimace she pulled, hard, as Meta Knight quickly found his feet. The sword came out an inch, before one of its serrations caught on the edge of twisted steel and like a stubborn child it remained immobile.

"_The pain is so acute, tear it free!"_ pleaded Tejed, reduced to nothing more than a voice inside her own head. Pained she began to cry, and it manifested in real tears falling from the eyes of a stolen face. Eyes that continued to burn harsh electric blue, the Phazon that for all intents and purposes served as her life blood rising at a doubled rate in this alternate dimension.

Meta Knight rushed her and leapt up to her head, where he clung like a monkey. He covered her face with his cape, and enraged she tried to grab him. Her eyes burnt holes in the fabric but Meta Knight paid it no heed. He had more important things to attend to, like taming this suddenly savage beast before it did something it would later regret. If it even felt regret.

"I'll tear you limb from scrawny little limb!" Tejed screamed, grabbing futilely at the annoyance that had seemingly attached itself to her head. But even when she managed to actually grab him the pain in her chest took precedence and gasping she grabbed the sword which remained stuck. Her frenzied actions were doing exactly what Meta Knight had been hoping: steering her towards the edge. He could never beat her by himself. She was too strong and much too heavy, built like a tank as she was. So strategizing was the next best thing. Maybe if she fell over the edge the hard ground would knock some sense into her.

"Go burn in a fucking hole," she hissed, her voice having dropped in pitch.

Without any hesitation Meta Knight grabbed and tore his sword free in what would have been an impressive spray of blood and grabbed Tejed's head so he could lean in close. For a few seconds, all they did was stare at each other, completely still. A pair of burning blue staring into yellow dots shrouded in mystery. Tejed's breath, erratic and heavy, contrasted harshly with her foe's: even and quiet. And, both of them teetering on the very edge of the arena, Mete Knight finally spoke.

"You need help," was all he said, before kicking off of her and jumping away. The force of his kick was enough to throw the hybrid's balance off, and, as the blue of her eyes faded back down to yellow, she lost her balance and fell. Over the edge. Down to the ground so very far away. Meta Knight was the victor.

The hybrid landed with a loud crash below the arena, her impact leaving a shallow crater and a cloud of acrid gray dust. Her breath was forced clear from her lungs and her spine hurt something awful. Minor setbacks, she thought dully, her thoughts muddled and hazy and hard to organize. Minor setbacks indeed. For while Tejed herself wasn't thinking all that clearly the voice inside her head certainly was. And it was the voice inside her head that operated her legs and her chainsaw and her voice, that leapt to its feet and decided the wall nearby was the perfect thing to vent their shared anger on.

"Stop the Phazon, we have to stop the Phazon," it muttered brokenly. Her eyes continued to blaze orange fire and her claws cut jagged gashes through the thick steel. Immediately a mass of guards descended on her in an effort to hold her down. A crowd of inquisitive spectators gathered, drawn by the curious scene. They didn't seem to realize the danger and chatted pleasantly amongst themselves. And why should they? There hadn't been any real danger at this place in decades. Why should now be any different?

Because they had invited Tejed.

"FUCK YOU ALL!" she screamed, the voice yelling for her. Swiftly she brought her arm forwards, throwing four of the guards to the ground. Instantly the crowd became silent as the guards leapt right back to their feet and grabbed hold once more. Anything to subdue her, to keep the innocents safe. She continued to strain as hard as she could against the collective grip of eleven strong tournament guards. It wasn't helping her anger problem in the slightest.

"Fuck you all for what you've done!" she continued, undaunted by the hordes of guards. The crowd had grown larger, a perimeter of curious and frightened onlookers drawn by her colourful language and loud screaming. White froth lined her mouth and dripped from her glistening fangs. "Fuck you all for allowing such a travesty to happen, let alone even _thinking_ about it!"

By slow degrees her anger burnt up the Phazon and her burning eyes faded back to yellow, the fire spent. Still in a frenzy she tried to attack the wall again, only to find that she couldn't move her chainsaw arm. It was being held on to by five guards, all of them straining to keep her detained just as hard as she was straining to release her anger.

"LET ME FUCKING GO!" she screamed, pulling with all her strength to break free and decimate the crowds of vulnerable prey a few precious feet out of reach. The wall no longer held any interest. It was the warm blooded crowds that grabbed her attention now.

"Calm her down!" yelled one of the guards, holding her leg.

"She's like a runaway train!" replied another, holding her arm. "We need Master Hand!"

"Then bloody get him, already!" cried a third. Enough was enough. With both Tejed and the voice for once agreeing on something she gave a final yank and managed to dislodge most of the guards. Snarling viciously she broke out of their grasp and ran into the crowd, ready to kill them all and her chainsaw just a revving. Screaming and terror reached her ears, sounds that drove her on. Grinning wickedly she set her eyes on a civilian and prepared to finish him off. He saw her coming but was too slow to get up and was reduced to a cowering mess, mouthing the word help over and over again. Tejed grinned. She hadn't killed anything in weeks and the anticipation was causing her to froth at the mouth. She could smell his fear. It was dank and powerful and she loved it.

Something curled around her waist and lifted her from the ground, the Ravager taking exactly two of the innocent man's hairs off. Instantly she started struggling, too far gone to think clearly and calm down.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?" she screamed, trying to get her arms free. Whatever had grabbed her just tightened, pinning her arms to her sides and leaving her unable to move anything except for her mouth. Which was exactly what she did.

"You mother fucking piece of shit cock sucking prick of a hand!" she screeched. The Master Hand, used to such outbursts from the many losers it had seen over the course of the tournament, ignored her. Far down below a few concerned parents who had come for the show covered the ears of their children, themselves surprised and offended by her choice of language.

"When I get out of your grasp I'm going to break your fingers and tear them off!" she continued to yell, still struggling and kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs. The pain from the ragged hole in her chest didn't seem to faze her at all. Needless to say the voice was having a blast. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL! Every single one of you! Break your spines and shove them down your throat and RIP YOUR FACES OFF!"

The Master Hand came to a stop and still furious Tejed glanced down. They were over top of a deep, deep pit cut into the concrete, so deep she could not see the bottom. For a second she was deathly afraid. The darkness made her remember the dream she had a week ago, the dream the voice had ruined, the dream where it had dropped her into a pit of inky blackness and did not make any move to save her.

"Don't you fucking dare put me in there," she warned, getting angry again. The hand did not answer and stayed put, not moving. Maybe it was torturing her, maybe it was waiting for her to say something. She craned her neck and glared up at it, trying to make out where its face would be if it had one. Her eyes narrowed and she felt the side of her face twitching. Despite the seriousness being this angry felt good, and she liked it.

"Don't you dare," she seethed. Still no response. She glanced back down again, a cold shudder running the length of her spine. "You put me in that hole and I'll kill you!" she screamed suddenly, the anger gripping her tight, holding her mind with cold hands. She started thrashing again. "I'll climb right back out and rip off your digits! DON'T TEMPT ME YOU BASTARD!" As if the hand had heard what it wanted it let go, and she fell.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO IT!" she cried, her voice falling away as she fell. The Master Hand watched her for a moment before floating away. Suddenly the darkness hit her and she gasped. It was cold down here, where no sun shone. She felt the cold, damp air rushing past her head and with a resounding crash hit the hard ground, her head snapping back and cracking loudly against the concrete. She gasped as bright stars erupted behind her eyes, the voice letting go just as suddenly as it had taken over.

"_Fuck that shit,"_ said the voice bitterly. _"I liked being the one in charge, give it back…" _

"NO!" she cried, clutching desperately at her head. The headache from colliding so sharply with the floor wasn't helping and it was easier for the voice to swing her into a frenzy again. Much easier. Tejed hated the voice. She hated the damn thing with a passion and wanted to rip it and its cancerous tumour of insanity straight from her mind. That was never going to happen though because it was just as incorporeal as a ghost. Didn't mean she couldn't get angry, though. Maybe if she gave it what it seemed to want it would give her some much needed peace.

"FINE!" she yelled, clambering to her feet and still holding her head. "FINE! You can be in control you piece of shit! HERE! TAKE IT! KILL EVERYONE SEE IF I CARE!"

She stood with her arms wide, as if proclaiming something to the heavens. She sorely hoped the heavens would have pity and strike her down where she stood. Make the universe a better place by ridding it of the blight named Tejed. Nothing. The voice was dead silent and for a moment the hybrid thought the heavens had done the next best thing. Cured her.

"…_I don't want to now…"_ it said slyly, retreating back to some dark corner. Tejed was dumbstruck and let her arms fall limply to her sides.

"…You don't want to?" she inquired quietly.

"_Not really,"_ it replied.

"You don't _want_ to?" she repeated, this time more forcefully. The voice scoffed at her.

"_Not when you blatantly offer,"_ it remarked. _"And not giving you what you want tortures you too, so…" _

"You don't WANT _TO_?" she screamed incredulously. "I finally give in and offer you what you've been HECKLING ME for for _months_ and you don't WANT _TO_?"

"_Not really…" _

"GOD _FUCKING_ **DAMN** **IT**, _**VOICE**_!"

"_You're agony makes me very happy…" _it said with a smile. The hybrid grabbed her ears and pulled on them, hard, eager to rid herself of the voice once and for all. Balefully she cast a vindictive glare up at the top of her new prison, so far away. It was so deep that no light shone down here. The nearest light was the splash of sun angling in from the far right, but it did not penetrate the gloom. The bright green and very broken sky up above appeared as nothing more than a clear marbled square etched into the ceiling. All in all it was very depressing, and with a resigned sigh she slumped down against the wall and let go of her ears. The coldness of the hole was nice now that she really felt it. It cooled her fevered skin and calmed her equally fevered mind and made her head hurt less. Still feeling dejected she leaned back and closed her eyes, perfectly happy to sleep until the Master Hand came back to retrieve her.

Something loud and obnoxious caught her attention and annoyed she cracked an eye open. It was another fighter, thrown down here into the Hole with her. Supposedly for being a sore loser. Tejed groaned right away and screwed her eyes shut when she saw who it was. Because it was indeed a sore loser.

"Hey! I know you!" he called, pointing a claw at her immediately. Tejed sighed and opened her eyes. No rest for the wicked, it seemed. No rest, indeed.

"What the fuck do you want?" she hissed, resisting the urge to scratch that was, once again, rising ever so steadily. Even after it had just faded. Jaded, Bowser retreated to the other side of the Hole, eager to place as much distance between him and her and possible in such a cramped area.

"Nothing," he said quickly. Tejed glared at him while the voice chuckled sadistically in the back of her head. Three minutes. She had only been here for three measly minutes. And yet it already felt like a small eternity waiting desperately to end.

"_No, Ms. Jenal. Didn't you know?" _whispered the voice._ "You've been here for days already. They've all forgotten about us up here. It's just you and me and him… Alone…" _

"Oh fuck off," she snapped. "It's only been three minutes."

"_Days…" _

"Stop lying, you bastard."

"Who are you talking to?" asked Bowser quietly. His voice echoed, the walls bouncing and magnifying the sound.

"Not you!" Tejed snapped angrily. And at that moment, caught off guard, the voice grabbed her memory and threw it out the imaginary window. Tejed screeched and grabbed her head and Bowser, terrified, tried in vain to make himself as small as he could.

"Get out of my HEAD!" she yelled. But the voice was having too much fun and with one final yank suddenly up and let go and fell back into the darkness. Tejed gasped and became still. Her eyes were wide. Bowser whimpered in fear even as Tejed's harsh breathing evened out.

"…Where am I?" she asked softly, voice devoid of its usual scathing tone. "How long have I been here? Who are you?"

"_You're in a hole, Ms. Jenal," _answered the voice._ "We've been here for days. They've forgotten about us. He's here to watch…"_

"Watch what?"

"_Our suffering…" _

Tejed giggled accordingly.

"They've forgotten about us," she whispered through the laughter. "They're not coming back because they've forgotten about us…"

And even when Master Hand came back for Bowser and left her alone, she continued to laugh, clutching her head as tight as she possibly could, curled into the deepest corner she could find. For was not the Hole so very similar to her mentality? Dark and dank and cold and slowly, ever so slowly, slipping away…

* * *

Tejed was not in a good mood. She had just been released from The Hole. Her skin still itched. She still felt angry. She had lost. And the Phazon still hadn't been dispelled. While her brief slip into servitude where the voice had taken full control had granted some relief from the burn it had not been enough, and after only a few short hours of cold silence down in The Hole the radiation had risen again, leaving her just as mean and sadistic as she had been when she was on the battlefield.

She was a mean Phazon infused monster, and she sure as hell looked like it, too, all sunken eyes and predatory gleam.

So when Sarah, sweet innocent Sarah, playfully attached herself to the hybrid's mechanical leg, almost throwing her off balance, Tejed had done the first thing that came to her mind, something she didn't even think about. She acted purely on instinct, on impulse.

"Get the fuck off me!" she yelled, pushing the girl roughly away. Unused to such a response from her big scary friend Sarah instantly jumped off and shied away, watching as Tejed grabbed at her head and shuddered from head to toe. "You obnoxious little piece of shit!" the hybrid exclaimed, trying but failing to calm herself. Her breathing started to come fast. "Don't ever put your-FUCKING little h-h-hands on me…EVER again-!" Sarah was a sensitive little girl, so of course she started to cry, the hot tears stinging her cheeks.

And just as Sarah had begun to cry so did Tejed, only where one's tears were warm the others were on radioactive fire, glowing bright blue and burning on the way out. It was almost too much for the hybrid to handle, the pain of her tears coupled with the burn of the Phazon and the chaos of her own mind. She fell to her knees, crying, still holding her head.

"Sarah, help," she rasped, clenching her eyes shut in pain. Sarah held back, scared. Angrily Tejed opened her eyes again and glared at the girl. She flinched under the hybrid's intense gaze but didn't move. Tejed took a deep breath and shakily pointed towards the ship's exit. "Get Gin," she breathed. Sarah glanced back but remained immobile, and snarling Tejed yelled, "Get your _fucking_ FATHER! _NOW_! Before I HURT _YOU_!" Terrified Sarah turned tail and disappeared in the space of a second. The force of the yell was too much and brought new pain to Tejed's already pounding head, so she began to scream as loud as she could, if only because it made her feel marginally better. A few short seconds later a warm hand on her arm, and, still frighteningly angry, she did the first thing that came to her mind: lashed out. Someone yelled in surprise and a young girl screamed. The next instant a burning sting erupted on the side of her face and, feverish with pain, she opened her eyes, snarling.

"Tejed, calm down!" yelled Gin, Sarah hiding behind him, clutching his leg for protection. Gin's sleeve was torn, ripped from her claws, and for the briefest of seconds Tejed was terrified she had hurt him, only to realize her claws had glanced harmlessly off his mechanical arm, leaving both him, and Sarah, unhurt. Unhurt physically. Sarah was still crying, scared of Tejed, staring at her with wide eyes. And it did nothing but make her even angrier, the itch stronger; the screaming voice inside her head louder.

"Shut up," hissed Tejed, holding her head almost gently, if not for her shuddering hands. Sarah continued to stare and, not quite sure what to do, Gin held back, watching. Angrily Tejed stared back at the little girl, growling low in her throat like a cornered animal, that sound she hated so much because no normal human could ever produce it.

"What are you s-staring at?" the hybrid stuttered lowly, and frightened, Sarah shrunk away, clinging to Gin's leg for dear life. But still she continued to stare, and Tejed wasn't sure what she hated most. The terror and fear etched into the small girl's face, or the fact that Tejed was no longer a friend.

"Stop s-staring at m-me," Tejed muttered angrily. Sarah continued to stare, and in a spurt of rage she simply could not control Tejed jumped to her feet and screamed, "Don't fucking STARE AT ME you _obnoxious_ little FUCKER!"

Sarah let out a sudden cry and, enraged, Gin landed Tejed another good punch to the face, this time not holding back. She needed to calm down and stop yelling, stop threatening. She needed to relax. She couldn't relax. She was too wound up, too angry, too over the edge from the Phazon and the voice and the itch and the _burn _and the **chaos**.

"DON'T yell at Sarah," warned Gin quietly, gently pushing the small girl back. She may have been nothing more than a foster daughter but he was damn protective of her.

"Or what?" hissed Tejed malevolently, rubbing the side of her now bruised face. It only added to the other wounds and cuts and bruises all over her broken face, contributed to her overall frightening visage. All it did was make her look scarier. Gin did not care, was not fazed by her fearsome appearance in the least, and with Sarah at a safe distance approached the insanely enraged hybrid.

"Or I'll hurt you again," he said simply, looking her straight in the eyes. "Now calm down before you hurt someone."

The chemical scent of her breath was stronger than Gin had ever smelled, reeking of strong ammonia and steel. Almost but not quite enough to make him nauseous. It was hot, too. Like the searing wind from an open forge, blasting him in the face.

Deep shuddering breaths and she calmed slightly, still enraged at nothing and everything at the same time. She clenched her hands into shaking fists and angrily pushed past Gin, almost but not quite pushing him to the ground.

"I'll be in the command room," she hissed. "Waiting to leave this hellhole."

* * *

"Wow, who woulda thunk my brother would win his first tournament!"

Vince laughed, amazed, and elbowed Tejed in the side, overjoyed, for a moment forgetting just how dangerous she was. Their ship continued at a leisurely pace, up from the planet and towards the rift. Delighted, Sarah sat rapt at the main console, watching as they flew further and further away, as the patchwork lines of technological triumph gave way to a sea of natural chaos and then clouds. Watched as the curvature of the planet became apparent and suddenly she was no longer looking at a flat picture but at a sphere, suspended in the blackness of space like a beautiful glittering jewel. It was beautiful, and she had never seen such a sight before. She couldn't look away, and smiling giddily pushed her face into the glass.

"I wouldn't know, Vince," spat Tejed, having calmed considerably now that they were leaving Valhalla. The sight did not interest her, for she had seen it too much. It was ordinary to her. "I was stuck in a fuck-" Gin glared at her from the main command seat and she bit her tongue, watching her words. "…A _bloody_ hole," she corrected, growing more sullen. She leaned back and crossed her arms across her chest, staring at the wall. "I was stuck in a bloody hole…"

"You wouldn't have been stuck in that hole if you hadn't tried to kill the crowd," said Vince slyly, and Tejed just shot him a glare, growling lowly. To stay she still felt just as annoyed and angry as when they had landed was an understatement, at best. The unstoppable growth of the Phazon in her system was at a continuous increase and, even though she told no one, it was driving her up the wall. She didn't know how long she could hold out before she eventually snapped.

"Vince, stop picking on Tejed," Gin muttered distractedly. Beside him Samus smiled and shook her head. The events of the tournament, while amazing at best and terrifying at worse, didn't seem to be affecting him as it would anyone else. Sure, he had won. And it had been a spectacular show. Samus, being the former tournament champion, had, as predicted, made it to the end. And so had Gin. Which had culminated in an impressive fight between the two, Gin not holding back and Samus giving it her all. And where such a feat, such a win, would have gone to anyone else's head, here Gin didn't seem to really care.

"I can't help it, she's annoying," Vince replied snappily. "And it's not like she suffers from it. Just look at her!" Tejed's anger was rubbing off on him. Valhalla had shrunk to a shining marble of green and blue and Sarah was still glued to the window.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself, Vince?" Tejed spat.

"Tejed!" warned Gin, turning to glare at here again. The hybrid took a deep breath and closed her eyes, pushing her anger and irritation away.

"_Screw_ yourself, Vince. Go screw yourself," she said quietly, dangerously. Gin turned back to the main viewscreen, crosshairs circling in on the rift, so very far off yet so very close on a universal scale. The sooner they got out of this damn place the sooner they could set their eyes once again on the problems posed by both the Federation and the Pirates, two sides that seemed equally intent on bringing about the end of everything. Gin sighed. He really didn't care all that much about winning the tournament. Truth be told, he couldn't care, not when there was so much to worry about back in his home dimension.

Presently Sarah, who had been deaf to the conversation around her, tore herself from the window and glanced around the room. Everyone was there, save for Tejed's sister and a certain robot she loved to hang around. Her foster father was busy, and her foster mother seemed engaged in activities her childish mind couldn't fathom. Like hell if she knew what pushing those buttons and turning those dials meant. Which left Gin's brother and her favourite scary pirate friend. She stood there for a moment, contemplating what to do.

"I'd rather screw your sister," Vince muttered in irritation, trying to ignore Tejed. Unfortunately he hadn't counted on her ears being huge, and like the radar dishes he was always comparing them to they fluttered when he spoke, which in turn caused Tejed to glare yellow daggers at him.

"Why don't you go get eaten by a Pirate?" she hissed, breathing in his face.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard," he retorted. "It's not like I have to look very far to find one."

Tejed's eyes narrowed at the callous insult at the same time as Samus groaned, listening to their childish arguments with half an ear. They stoked each other on, she realized with a sigh. Vince annoyed her, which got her angry, and when Tejed got angry, Vince subconsciously picked up her anger and his insults grew in severity, which in turn made her angrier. An endless, and quite annoying, cycle. Especially when the Hunter was forced to listen to it.

And Sarah, unwilling to launch herself at Tejed after she had shown her hatred, instead ran from the room. Hackbot wouldn't yell at her, and her mochtroid friend wouldn't berate her. Gin watched her leave from the corner of his eye but made no move to stop her. Child or not, she had a wisdom that surpassed her years, even if she herself didn't realize it. It was the price one paid for seeing their own parents murdered. Sarah had, whether she knew it or not, matured much too fast in too short a time.

"Ooh, does that sting, hybrid?" muttered Vince, standing. Whether or not he felt any emotion towards her, be it pity or some sort of estranged friendship, meant nothing at this point in time. Like Gin, Vince had his own problems to deal with from the Physeter and his Elite days, as well as the added strain of a year on board that vessel. He was coping, albeit slowly, the only way he knew how: by ragging on Tejed constantly.

"Don't like being reminded of what you are, do you?" he continued, walking from the room. "Well get used to it, because it's not changing any time soon."

Without another word he was gone. Tejed stared for a moment at the door, before standing as well and casting looks around the command room. The rift, so beautiful in its ethereal way, glowed ever brighter, ever closer. For a moment the hybrid's eyes strayed towards it, before she turned on her heel and made to leave as well. She paused by the door. Something was digging in the back of her mind, a mental itch that demanded release. Her right eye began to twitch.

"Gin-" she started, turning to look at him. Distracted, it took him a moment before he looked away from the monitor, during which time, as brief as it may have been, Tejed's moment of courage faded. All she could do was stare at him, confused.

"…What?" he asked, confused as well. Tejed opened her mouth but no words came. The voice snickered playfully at her.

"_Go ahead, say it, Ms. Jenal," _it chided._ "Tell him you still love him. I can't wait to see the expression of pure disgust when he realizes the abomination has feelings for him…"_

Angered at her lost chance, her own weaknesses, and the broken nature of her mentality, among other things, she took her rage out on the doorframe. Her fist collided with the thick steel, buckling it ever so slightly. She wanted to scream so loud and so hard until all the pain went away. The voice laughed at her.

"Tejed," started Gin, standing.

"I'll be in my room," she said curtly, before she was gone, leaving Samus and Gin alone in the command room. The rift now glowed softly, a mere mile away, filling the command room with a gentle blue light. They both stared at it for a moment, almost hypnotized by its radiating glow.

"Why is the universe so beautiful, Gin?" asked Samus after a moment. Silence, before Gin answered with a question of his own.

"Why does it hold so many secrets?"

* * *

Stark against the backdrop of endless glittering stars, a ship. Huge and foreboding yet sleek in its build, reminiscent of a deep sea fish, all blinking soft lights and matte black hull. Alien in design yet recognizable in function: a gunship. And inside, a bounty hunter. Waiting. Patiently. For if he had learned anything in his countless decades as a bounty hunter, it was patience. Prey never came when expected, so he had learned to wait.

The dull blue glow of the rift cast ripples of light on the underside of his ship, like the wavy miasma thrown up by a pool of reflected water. All was silent, all was still. Nothing moved. The universe continued its slow dance even as this one mortal creature sat and waited, oblivious to the methodical movement of the stars around him. Just as, in all the vastness of the universe, the stars were oblivious to him.

The cockpit of his ship was sparse at best. Bare unpainted steel walls, scuffed and visibly used monitors, simple and uncomplicated terminals. Everything was unlabelled, for the hunter knew his ship like the back of his six fingered hands. There was no ship, just as there was no hunter. They were synched with each other, leaving one entity where there would have been two. They say a bounty hunter's ship shares a piece of his soul. In this case, they both shared the same soul, the same thoughts, the same instincts.

And they were content, both creature and machine, to wait patiently, biding their time. Their prey would come soon enough.

Absently, as if reminiscing of past hunts, the hunter reached out and gently let his fingers pass over a line of gleaming white bone, strung out across one of the bare steel walls. His thin lips pulled back, revealing blunt teeth and wicked canines: a primal smile. The ship's engines droned on, wavering in predictable pitch. The hunter's head cocked to the side as he listened, his hand pausing on a grinning skull. His ship was far from a talker; indeed, any visitor on board would marvel at how silent it was. Decades of hunting, of perusing the cosmos with only him and his ship, had tuned his ears to every noise that echoed up from the bowels of his ship. It spoke in whispering tones, and he was more than happy to listen.

_Soon_, it said quietly, its voice the soft clank of pistons and the gentle hiss of steam. _Soon…_

Soon, agreed the hunter with a nod. Unabated his hand continued along the line of trophies and he smiled. Soon. His prey would come. It always did. All he had to do was wait, patiently. All he had to do was wait.

Money was unimportant. The credits the Federation had promised held no interest. There was only the hunt and the trophies. And what a fine hunt it should be, he thought with a throaty chuckle. The Hunter herself, along with a Masters? Too good to be true. A bare spot on the wall, reserved for two very special trophies, readied with utmost perfection.

The waiting game was on.

And the stars continued their billion year waltz, ignorant of the trivial mortal dramas playing out beneath their blind eyes.

* * *

**AN/ YES. I SURVIVE. College. It's been a lot of college and life and working on my original fiction instead. But I never forgot about Pirated Scraps because I love it ever so. And Tejed has grown on me oh so much. As per usual, any questions I will not hesitate to answer and any critique I will love. I really am sorry for the delay, but that's life for you. At least now that the Tournament is over, the real awesomness can begin. Because there's a lot of it coming. Oh yes, there is... **


	20. Chapter 20

_It's… Interesting, living with Mr. Masters and his friends on board his ship. Far different than living on my own in my gunship, by far. And… I'm actually enjoying it. Barring the many problems we're currently facing; Pirates and the Federation and a certain unhinged experiment; it's actually quite nice. I feel, for the first time in years, happy. _

_It's not without its ups and downs, of course. Like Gin's wonderful brother. I swear that man only has one thing on his mind. I'm kind of surprised they're actually related. One's a gentleman and the other's a pervert. But that's siblings for you. At least they're the same species, unlike the many chozo I spent my childhood with. _

_Speaking of childhood, I'm starting to grow attached to little Sarah. At first I didn't like it, the prospect of taking care of another life. Especially one as... _Playful_, as her. But now… I do. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I am an adult human female, chozo and metroid DNA or not. I've never felt these kinds of feelings before, and while bounty hunting still comes first, I do enjoy the time me and Sarah spend together. She's an amazing child. So much imagination in her. So much potential, just waiting to come to fruition. She'll grow into an amazing woman. _

…_I do wonder what Tejed would have been like, if she had never entered this madness. There are times when I regret saving her, and there are times when I feel so much sadness for her. There are times when I take one look at her and see a space pirate monster, and there are times when instead I see something gentle and confused. She's a strange one for sure, and I don't blame her one bit. The things she endured are a burden all their own, and it's a surprise she still has fragments of her old mind. But I've seen the spark in her dull yellow eyes, and that was the reason I saved her. She's a survivor, I know it. _

_She's just like me…They both are. Tejed and Sarah...  
_

_I always had been the loner, even back with the Chozo. The inclusion of this ragtag band of, well, freaks into my life is a nice change, as mad as it is. If it weren't for Gin, I probably would have left a long time ago. Curse these human emotions, I always did try so hard to repress them. What kind of bounty hunter has a family? What kind of cold blooded killer keeps friends? Gin. That damn man. I've only felt this way for one other person, and he was a Chozo. And nothing could ever come of it because we were different species. I wonder… What would Gin look like as a Chozo? He'd probably have a big tuft of bright blue feathers around his neck. And when he got angry, they'd turn red. Yes. And the rest of his plumage would be a dark tan, like he's been out in the sun a lot. And he'd have a funny accent. And I would love it… _

_And at that, there was still Adam. But he's long dead...  
_

_Enough of this childish wondering. It results in nothing. Nothing except meaningless ideas. End log. There's things to do, after all. After we leave this dimension, as nice as it was, we're still all wanted criminals. I'm wanted, Gin's wanted, Tejed's wanted; everyone else on this ship is wanted simply for being with us. It's madness, pure and simple. But for the time being, that rift is so utterly beautiful. Its blue rippled light reminds me of things I thought I had forgotten… _

… _End log. _

Gin awoke with a start, his breath trailing from his mouth like an escaping serpent. Instantly he sat up and cast worried eyes around, and just as instantly he fell right back to the ground. His side, where he had broken his ribs oh so very long ago, was on fire, and every breath he took was a small feat in itself. Gritting his teeth together he forced himself up once more, and this time he did not fall back, though the pain continued to assail him without remorse. He ignored the pain as easily as Tejed did. Worried and confused, he cast a worried eye around. Almost immediately Gin Phoenix did not like it.

This was not his ship. Last time he had checked, and he checked a lot, his ship did not contain a gratuitous amount of plant life. Or dirt. Or animals. And it didn't house another dimension tucked away within causing it to be bigger inside than it was out.

No, his ship had none of those things. As rich as he was, it had none of these things.

Hesitantly he found his feet, wincing as he stood. A stab of pain rushed up his side and through his lungs, manifesting as a stuttered and forced exhale through clenched teeth. He groaned; not in pain but in annoyance. His mechanical arm wasn't functioning properly. Its steel joints whined when he flexed it and the pistons hissed cold steam. It was covered in a fine layer of dirt, causing him to wonder just how long he had been lying there for. Part of the steel covering was missing, and although frayed wires managed to escape at obscure angles, his arm still worked on a basic level. All in all, though, Gin was intact and alive. Alive and stranded in the middle of an alien jungle.

"Breathable atmosphere," he whispered, looking up into the high canopy of blue leaved trees. The sky shone clear red down on him, and he shielded his eyes. "Three suns. Heavier gravity. Large planet, most likely iron core… Long days… Longer nights…"

He sighed and averted his gaze back to ground level, assessing the situation. He wasn't completely lost, as his ship sat smoking just behind him. Little good it did him stranded and alone. The word 'lost' was relative, indeed.

"Far from the main star, close to the secondary. Hot, sultry…" he paused and sniffed the air. It felt so clean and fresh, used as he was to recycled space ship air and contaminated Earth air. "Lots of oxygen, more than Earth. Which would mean… Larger insect life. And more abundant."

That wasn't good. Insects the galaxy over had a reputation for being heartless and mean and low on the intelligence scale. With a frustrated sigh and a black hole in his memory that started when they entered the rift on their way home and ended here, on awakening, he looked again at his arm. It whined sadly in a high steel voice: _Help me, Vaughn, I'm broken_; obviously greatly damaged by whatever accident had befallen his ship and his friends.

He perked up, suddenly terrified. His friends: His brother. His girlfriend. His _family_. Gin had a habit of not giving even the smallest of cares towards his own well being where family was concerned. And over the course of months his ragtag band of friends had become something he had missed for a very long time: a family. With all the ups and downs and specific little quirks that came with it. It was actually an amazing realization, that Gin finally had a family again, and he wondered why he had never grasped it before, even as it was staring him right in the face.

Which brought the deftly chugging train of his mind to something utterly terrifying: his family was out there in a cruel alien jungle, each of them reduced to disparate elements of something bigger. Samus could fend for herself. As could Vince and Tejed. But Dejet? Hackbot? Or even worse: Sarah and her floating friend Xavier? By themselves, they were nothing more than fodder: tiny little edible pieces running around just waiting to be eaten by the local predators.

Gin could not just stand back and let such a thing happen. So, without stopping to think about his own well being (or the fact that there was a good chance his ribs were broken once more) he ran back into the ship as fast as he could, finding easy entrance through an unblocked service hatch. Hesitation was not something he thought much of, his only goal at that point in time to locate his family. First stop: the main command room. And up there: nothing. Nothing save for a shattered front window and more debris then he thought was possible. Teeth clenched, he ran for the next likely destination: the docking bays. And when he arrived there, what he found surprised him. Three missing escape pods. Relief flared at the back of his mind like a welcome fire.

"They're alive," he whispered, and if he hadn't been in pain he would have jumped for joy. "Oh god, yes. They're alive."

There was, of course, the chance that everyone except him was dead. His spoken words did nothing more but make him feel marginally better about the wholly depressing situation, did nothing more than give him a reason to keep looking, to keep fighting for survival. Which was exactly what he did. Quickly he exited the ship the same way he had entered. There was no point in staying here, in a broken ship, when Sarah or Dejet were out there alone. Gin had to take the initiative and find them first, before they wound up bug food. But how to find someone when he didn't even know where he was?

"…Escape pods," he muttered, looking up. The trees here looked sturdy enough, despite their alien colouration. So, quick as a flash, Gin started his ascent up the nearest one. As expected, he encountered problems. The nest of giant beetles was one thing, and the hive of stinging wasps was another. The fact that his arm refused to cooperate and continuously seized up every few feet was a different predicament completely. But he ignored his discomfort and continued ever upwards, towards the constant glow of a red sky.

A few minutes later his head broke through the canopy, and he could see for untold miles. An unceasing sea of blue, broken only by the odd towering tree alive with huge flying creatures far off in the hazy distance. It all looked the same, it all looked wild. It all looked hopeless. Until a smear of greasy black wafting sickly from a shattered clearing far off caught his eye and hopeful he turned towards it. Again, that warm fire of hope.

"They're alive," he repeated to himself, smiling wide. Quick as a flash he shimmied down the tree and started the trek towards the smoke, oblivious to the gunship that had been watching him from far, far above. They were alive, and that was all he cared about. He didn't realize how much that simple care, that human _obsession_, blinded him.

* * *

"Come on, Hybrid. Wake up… There we go."

The first thing to fill Tejed's vision on awaking was the Hunter herself, smiling down at her, a hand laid gently on her shoulder. Instantly Tejed scurried back, away from Samus' compassion. Something in the back of her mind kept telling her that she didn't deserve it and fervently she agreed. _This isn't for you,_ it scolded, and it was not the Voice inside her head but something else, something smaller and quicker and all around more compelling. _You don't deserve this._

The next thing Tejed noticed was the fresh smell in the air, the overabundance of pure oxygen that filled her lungs with energy and revitalized her body despite her injuries. The third thing she became aware of was the noise. And how loud it was. The air was alive with creature call: bird like songs and insectoid chittering and the rustling of underbrush and some sort of deep bass hum she couldn't quite pinpoint because it seemed to emanate from the earth itself. Quickly she brought her hands up and covered her ears, glancing around wildly. It was a zoo of smells and sounds and sights and it was overwhelming almost to the point of overload. No. It _was _an overload.

"What's wrong?" asked Samus gently. Where Tejed was experiencing a sensory overload that threatened to deafen her and leave all her other senses useless, Samus only heard the familiar songs of a lush planet.

"I- Who-" they hybrid stuttered, beginning to hyperventilate. Wherever her damned suit was, scuffed and burnt and dirty as it was, it would have cut out the noise and the smell and the brightness of that red sky. And she thought Earth had been almost too much. This ruckus was threatening to break what little sanity she had left. Unannounced her left eye began to twitch, and not even five seconds afterwards it had grown into a full on facial tic. Alarmed Samus rushed to her side and kneeled, her hand once more on her arm. This time Tejed did not pull away.

"Tejed, tell me what's wrong," she said calmly. Tejed did not answer right away. Her eyes continued unceasingly to rove the treetops and the alien landscape, her head snapping around as she focused in on one area only to get distracted by another. Something high up in the trees screamed loudly, a wavering note like a broken violin. A few seconds later something from far off in the distance answered in the same voice. Tejed flinched accordingly and screwed her eyes shut, hunkering down into herself, trying to make her huge ungainly body small and inconspicuous. Gently Samus took hold of her overly hot shoulders and shook her.

"Listen to me," she said softly, the pieces falling gently together in her brain. For a moment the hybrid's shuddering faded and she cracked open an eye. Her facial tic continued undaunted. "Tejed, we're going to have to find Gin's ship, okay? I know you're suffering sensory overload right now but it would make everything so much easier if you could try and find the scent of his ship." Tejed's eyes strayed past the Hunter's face and Samus had to pull her back to keep her attention. "Listen to me, pay attention to my face. Try and ignore the smells and the noise and the sights, please. If you locate his ship you can get out of this faster."

"M-m-my s-sui-" she burbled incoherently. Thick viscous drool began to drip from the split in her chin and without thinking Samus pulled her hand away, disgusted despite herself. Once again Tejed had closed her eyes, her expression one of utmost pain as the shuddering started anew. Her eyes roved underneath her eyelids and she muttered broken sentences to herself. With a sigh Samus stood again. Tejed was too far gone, she thought sadly. It was up to her to locate the ship now. The trees near her right rustled and something darted from between broad leaves, bounded quickly across their small clearing and warbling loudly as it went. Where Samus jumped, startled, her pistol already held at a defensive, Tejed jumped straight to her feet, eyes wide.

"Th-that way!" she yelled, pointing off into the jungle. "I can sm-smell the sh-ship _festering_ steel c-c-corrosion smoke heavy, I-" She trailed off into confused muttering, still covering her ears.

"Are you sure?" asked Samus gently. Without another word Tejed bounded off into the trees and, whether she knew the way or not, Samus could do nothing but follow.

And so high above, unheard even by Tejed and unnoticed by both hybrid and Hunter, a gunship flew overhead. It flew high and slow, taking in the scenery as a hawk assessing its prey. Jet black and without shine it drifted through the red abyss of the sky, and while no one saw it, it most certainly saw them all.

* * *

Vincent Masters, though, like his brother, was also at one point in time a super soldier, suffered from his own personal fears and neuroses and quirks. His ridiculous fear of insects just happened to be one of them. Which left the elder Jenal sister in charge even though the only knowledge she held was of chemicals and Physeter and sterile laboratories, not far off planets.

"Vince, the least you could do is help," Dejet snapped, pushing a huge blue leaf out of their way. A tiny little insect fell from the trees and landed on Vince's shoulder. The man screamed in accordance and went through a series of overly dramatic movements in order to rid himself of the insect. It fell from his body and scurried quickly into the jungle undergrowth, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. Dejet sighed and stopped.

"You're a grown man!" she cried, exasperation dripping from her voice. For a moment the incessant creature call stopped, as though listening. "Why are you afraid of a harmless bug?"

And, for a moment, Vince ceased his almost rabid movements and stared at her for a moment, trying to find a reason in the locked doors of his mind as to his fear. But the doors remained locked, and he found nothing. He remained silent, and she sighed. Gently, the creature call started up slowly, for a moment sounding like the muttered voices of a million people talking about you behind your back. Muttered clicks and clacks and soft throaty coughs.

"I think that Physeter went to your head just as much as it did your brother," Dejet muttered bitterly as she started through the trees once more. Though the overabundance of oxygen was revitalizing to her, it was also revitalizing to the plantlife. The flora was experiencing a slow explosion of growth, reaching ever upwards in a race to taste the sun. Down here, on the jungle floor, ruddy red light filtered through blue leaves and little wind blew. It was sweltering, and the heat was beginning to affect Dejet's mood adversely.

The sound of life exploded once more, as incessant and mind numbing as it was. Offended by her remark, and vaguely frightened of the insectoid alien noises, Vince finally got his act together and followed her through the dense undergrowth. It was clear by the expression he wore that his ego had just suffered a major blow. He was wearing his best dour face.

"I'll have you know I'm perfectly sane!" he retorted loudly, trying to ignore the buzzing and the chittering and the noises. She scoffed and purposely let go of the branch she had been holding. It sprang back and clipped the top of Vince's head. He flinched and ducked, staring with wide eyes the leaves as though he had just avoided Death itself.

"Even back on the frigate you had a bad habit of talking to yourself," she countered. "We'd be working there in silence and suddenly you'd start talking and I still don't know who you were talking to."

She stopped once more and turned to look at him. Something buzzed past her head and Vince jumped back, eyeing it with fear and suspicion, even while she remained calm. Calm and unmoving. Calm and unmoving in a place that could potentially kill them. A loud call like a broken violin pierced through the air and without hesitation, without even stopping to think of what it could have been, Vince leapt forwards and grabbed Dejet by the arm in an attempt to pull her through the foliage. She remained stubbornly immobile.

"Dejet, this place is gonna kill us!" he cried in fear, trying and failing to pull her along. Where he no doubt had the strength to pull her along, he sure as hell didn't exert it. He pulled weakly, as though from fear he would inadvertently hurt her, and when he realized she was staying put he gave up with a resigned sigh, trembling like a leaf in a storm. It was Dejet who spoke first, quietly amid the alien cacophony.

"Everyone else suffered symptoms," she started lowly. "Your brother had the rage, just like Luna. Justin had the paranoia. Arthmael, the memory loss. But you never reported anything. You were keeping secrets, and you still are. Tell me, Vincent, what your symptoms were."

"I never had any symptoms," he said quickly, slipping into an arrogant mindset, chin held high. A rough grating chitter snapped him from his arrogance and he looked around quickly.

"You were the third. And you suffered nothing? I find that very hard to believe."

"We have to get back to the shiiiip!" Vince whined, tugging futilely at her sleeve.

"We are not leaving this spot!" she yelled suddenly. Once more the jungle faded to quiet and Vince stopped his tugging, cringing like a small child who was just yelled at by his parent. The heat was taking its toll and Dejet was slipping ever further in an anger she usually reserved for special occasions only. "We are not going _anywhere_ until, you, Mr. Delta Fox, tell me what you never told me _years_ _ago_!"

"…Why does it matter?" he asked quietly.

"If you want to get out of this bug ridden jungle you'll tell me your symptoms!" she screamed, and the jungle became ever quieter. Frightened, now more of her than of the insects, Vince eeped once, a thin high pitched sound, and remained quiet. When he tried to speak he found he couldn't. "_Right now_, Vince! Like you were supposed to years ago!"

"Hallucinations!" he blurted, cowering as though it pained him to admit it. "I suffer hallucinations please don't hate me!" He began to sob quietly to himself and instantly Dejet's harsh façade faded. For the first time, since they had first landed themselves on that blasted frigate, Dejet saw Vince cry. Hesitantly the creature call started up again, though this time it remained as steady background noise.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked quietly.

"I didn't want to!" Vince cried. "Like hell if I'd tell anyone! You know the looks people get when they have problems like that? Hallucinations? No one takes you seriously when you're fucked in the head, Dejet! Just look at your sister!"

"…Was that the only reason?" she asked quietly, ignoring his Tejed based remark. It seemed there was something else he had deigned to confide in her. And while the heat, oppressive as it was, brought out Dejet's temper, it did the exact opposite to Vince: it made him unburden his weighted down heart.

"I wanted you to like me!" he blurted, looking up at her through tear fogged eyes. "And how in hell's name would you like anyone who talks with a stupid accent and sees things? Huh? Tell me that!" For a moment, she was silent, as though her mind refused to believe what Vincent was saying. Sure, she liked him. Liked him in a closer way than just two friends. But for him to share the feelings when it was obvious he was nothing more than a horn dog out to get in her pants and nothing more? It seemed almost impossible. It seemed entirely unfeasible for Vince to even know what love was, let alone consciously act on it. But for the moment she kept her mouth shut and stared at him. And he stared back like a sad puppy, as though it felt good to finally get his secrets, however small they were, off his chest.

Dejet took a step towards him, for a moment oblivious to the sweltering oppressive heat. Sharing the same emotions? Really? She wanted to believe it, she really did. And Vince, scared as he was, followed suit. They came closer, they leaned into each other. Fuzzy thoughts filled their heads and they couldn't really say no to them, because they didn't really know what they were doing. All they knew was that they felt the same way. They were ready to show that to each other: they were ready to kiss.

A tiny little insect came down on a glistening strand of thread and stopped unnoticed between them. Its eight little legs groped around for a place to sit, and it was at that moment that Vince's lips came in contact not with Dejet but with a fat hairy abdomen. In the space of one second all his thoughts flew out the window and only one emotion filled Vince's head: panic. Terrified he opened his mouth to scream. And inhaled the bug. Surprised Dejet jumped back, her mind suddenly clear.

"Ack-!" was all Vincent managed to choke out, before he coughed the bug up. It landed in an undignified heap on the jungle floor and after a moment scuttered quickly away, humiliated. Vince wrapped his arms around Dejet, terrified, using her as a human shield.

"It was going to lay eggs in my brain!" he cried, and just like that, they were back at square one. "You saw it! It attacked me! _There's monsters here_!"

Smiling more to herself than to him, Dejet shoved her temper away and gently took hold of his hand, and as one they continued through the oppressive brush. And, in a way, Vince was completely right. There were monsters there, though not on the ground. Far from the ground. It was the kind of monster that did nothing but sit back and watch, out of sight, shielded by the very jungle that kept them all caged.

* * *

Gin somehow managed to run into none other than Hackbot long before he found that greasy smear of black hanging languidly in the ruby sky that signaled a fallen escape pod. It was the former medic's steel body, clinking musically in the chaos, that alerted Gin first. It was Sarah, always following her robotic friend, that alerted Gin second by rushing out of the dense foliage and attaching herself playfully, and protectively, to his leg.

"I found you!" she cried happily, beaming up at him. To say Gin was overjoyed was putting it lightly, indeed. Without giving her a chance to complain he scooped her up and hugged her as tight as he could, while Hackbot waited patiently off to the side. A moment later, she began to complain, for though she loved Gin as though he was her father she preferred to be on the ground as opposed to in his arms.

"Mast-Gin…" started Hackbot quietly. "You seem to have this family thing down pat. Are you sure you don't have children of your own…?"

Gin laughed and finally set Sarah down. Her feet touched softly the dense forest undergrowth without a sound and Gin turned a friendly eye on his old, old friend. The surrounding danger must have worked its odd magic and somehow urged Hackbot back into the sanity he enjoyed so very much.

"I assure you, Austin," he said, using Hackbot's old name. "That I do not have any old relations. As an elite, I never had time."

"Even with Ah'luna…?"

"Even with Ah'luna," he replied quietly, before turning his attention back to the wild jungle. This was bad, he thought sullenly. All kinds of bad. Stranded on an alien planet by himself would have been much, much easier. With no one else to worry about, it would be no problem to get his ship up and running again and kick himself into survival mode. But with the addition of at least five other people, this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. At least Samus and Tejed and his wonderful brother could look after themselves. Sarah and Hackbot and the flying pink blob known as Xavier could not.

And it was none other than Xavier that flew from the trees not a moment later in an attempt to latch himself onto Gin's apparently tasty head. The mochtroid failed and instead found himself hugged tightly against Sarah's chest. He whined in protest but could not escape. His tiny white mandibles wiggled feebly, as though asking Gin to set him free. Sarah hugged him tight, but it seemed even in her childish attitude that she knew they were in deep trouble.

"Where's all your friends?" asked Sarah after a moment. Xavier managed to worm his way free and floated above her head, uttering quiet, confused chirrups. And Gin took gentle hold of her hand and began to lead her through the forest, towards the smear of black he had originally been following.

"I don't know," he answered quietly. "Why don't you help me find them, eh?"

* * *

Completely out of her mind from a combination of the noise and the smell and the insufferably bright three suns, Tejed dug frantically through the wreckage blocking the main entry of Gin's ship as Samus watched from afar. Tejed didn't know why she was doing it anymore, only that it needed to be done and that something important awaited her inside. She did not know where she was, she did not remember how she had gotten there, and she did not know what was going on. Sensory overload had scrambled her mind as surely as one scrambles three eggs for breakfast.

"Oh Tejed, you crazy beast," Samus muttered to herself, casting a worried eye out over the jungle. Tejed did not seem to hear and continued her frantic digging, trying in vain to gain entry into the ship even while the planet continued to mutilate her senses. The jungle held nothing of interest, and with a sigh Samus looked back over Gin's ship, ruined as it was. The main cockpit windows were smashed and broken and the body was almost but not quite cleaved in half. Whatever had happened, it had happened suddenly and viciously.

Something loud broke through the background noise and Samus jumped, startled, her hand already closing around her laser pistol. Pained, Tejed had leapt back from the ship as a detached piece of hull came crashing down, the shrill noise cutting through her brain like jagged glass. Shrieking in agony Tejed grabbed her head and held her ears tight before falling unceremoniously onto her side. The chunk of hull fell loudly to the ground and became still. The dust settled and the creature call became silent. The only sound was the hybrid's pained sobs.

Quickly the Hunter ran to her side and kneeled, a comforting hand on her side.

"Tejed," she said softly, and the hybrid's shuddering faded but one iota. "Tejed, look."

Tejed did not look, so Samus gently took hold of her head and did it for her. Hesitantly Tejed opened her eyes, and for the briefest of seconds, her shuddering faded completely. She took her hands from her ears and propped herself up on her arms, staring. She couldn't make sense of what she was seeing. There was a new hole in the side of the ship, where the piece of hull had come loose. A gaping hole filled with black and cold. And… The thing she had been looking for. What had she been looking for? She couldn't rightly remember, but it was in Gin's ship, and now she had a way in.

Confused, she glanced up at Samus, who merely smiled back and urged her on.

Hesitantly Tejed found her feet, and without a sound ran towards the ship, where she disappeared quickly inside. Samus once again turned back to the surrounding jungle, worried. Here was Gin's ship, but where was everyone else? And why didn't Samus remember any of it? Her memory stopped at the rift and started up once more inside a crashed escape pod, emergency sirens blaring in her ears in an effort to wake her up. And she had crawled forth from her pod to an alien jungle alive with noise, in nothing but her Zero Suit. A matching escape pod had lain close to hers but was in decidedly worse condition, the hybrid laying unconscious on the ground. And now here she was, confused all to hell.

What had happened?

But her thoughts were cut short by the incongruous clang of the hybrid herself leaping from the ship and shaking the ground like a mini earthquake. She seemed more herself, now that she had cut herself off from the mind shattering ruckus. Movements slow and calm she approached the Hunter. Red light glanced off her tinted visor but did not penetrate its opaque glass. The vents on the front of her helmet were closed tight.

"Better?" asked Samus simply. And Tejed nodded once, her answer just as simple: "It's loud here."

"I bet it is," replied Samus, once again turning her attention to the vast uncaring wilderness surrounding them. "You were disoriented something awful. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," she replied quietly, though it seemed there was a hint of pain in her voice, as though she could still hear all the madness even though she was now shut off from the vast majority of it. Shut off enough to stay sane yet still hear Samus speak. "I'm fine…"

"If that's the case, then would you be alright to play guard?" Samus asked, turning her attention to that broken main window. Tejed tore her gaze away from the almost hypnotic jungle and looked down to the Hunter, cocking her head to the side. Samus could not help it: she uttered small laugh, her hand going to her mouth. No matter what happened, no matter the situation, Tejed and her habit of cocking her head to the side would always remind her of a small puppy. And that in turn always conjured mental images in her head that made her laugh. Always. Each and every time. Tejed didn't say anything and Samus, still smiling her wry little smile, pointed up at the broken ship.

"I can get Gin on radar if Computer is up and running," she explained calmly. "I just need someone to keep guard. This place is dangerous."

Again the call like a broken violin, and this time both Tejed and Samus flinched. It was close. And it was loud. Tejed sighed and nodded once, wherein Samus almost instantly disappeared inside the ship. And, all alone, Tejed began a slow circuit of the crashed ship, not in the mood to talk to herself. Even the voice inside her head remained silent. Only one thought ran circles around her mind, and it bothered her again and again and again.

Her sister was all alone.

* * *

Gin didn't know what possessed him to angle in the direction he had chosen, only that it felt somehow right. It was a sort of subconscious thing. _Go that way_, his mind said eagerly, and he had no choice but to obey. It didn't feel right going west, and it didn't feel right going either south or east. So north was the only viable option. North, going who knows where, because even though he went in that direction, he really had no idea what lay that way. Only that it felt, for lack of a better term, right. It felt _right_. Gin wasn't used to things feeling right. He was just used to things being wrong.

"Daddy, where's all your friends?" asked Sarah quietly, her arms wrapped tightly around Gin's leg. Despite the child clinging so close she did not hamper his progress, and Gin did not complain.

"They're lost," was all he could say. Sarah was silent for a few moments. Even Xavier's mood seemed to have dulled significantly, to the point where he hovered languidly over Sarah's head and didn't utter a peep.

"…Are they all dead?" Sarah inquired after a moment. Her tone was hushed, reverent, as if the word 'dead' held a special significance that demanded utmost respect. It was at that moment that Sarah suddenly understood the word 'dead' and everything it meant. She had already lost her real parents. Losing anything else would crush her spirit completely and absolutely.

Gin stopped and looked down at her. Hackbot stood close to his other side, shivering, his mechanical body clinking hollowly as he shuddered. Everyone here was afraid. And rightly so.

"…No one's dead," he said softly, kneeling down. "I'm here. Hackbot's here. Xavier's here. Everyone else is just lost and we're trying to find them, okay?" More of that silence.

"…Mommy?"

"Is fine," he replied with a kind smile.

"Scary Pirate Lady?"

"Is hard to kill. I'm sure she's fine, too."

"…Uncle Pervert…?" Her question caught Gin off guard and he laughed, ruffling her hair.

"Yes, Vincent is probably fine, too," he said with a chuckle, picking her up. He didn't ask where she had learned the word 'pervert'. Probably the same place she learned the word 'sex': school. "And so is Dejet. We just have to find them, to make sure they're alright. Are you gonna help me?" Silence. "I can't find them on my own, now can I?" Sarah hugged her foster father close and whispered into his ear a secret: "I'm scared."

"Oh, Sarah," he said softly, hugging her right back. "I'm scared too. But I'm here to protect you. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Promise?"

"Promise, with all my heart."

She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and wiggled from his arms, where she beamed up at him. Quickly Xavier took up his constant vigil, floating serenely above her head, while Hackbot took up the rear. And together they walked. They walked through an alien jungle with blue leaved trees and a red sky. They walked through a buzzing world of mindless insects and almost serene vegetation. They walked in that set direction until the trees suddenly stopped and they found themselves staring out at something vast and huge and utterly alien, something made with rock from the far off mountains and steel from another planet and carved with curious bird headed people. Gin stopped and drew his sword, suspicious. The planet hadn't looked inhabited to him. He glanced around, but there was no hint of movement. Tenderly he took a single step past the treeline. For a moment, nothing happened.

The creature that attacked him next was clearly not of this world. It whipped out of the trees a burnished steel blur, all lithe bodied and vicious of temper. Galvanized steel claws reminiscent of recurved steel teeth came down hard on his mechanical arm, tearing the meager clothe he had been wearing to tattered shreds and glancing shrill notes into his ears. Gin clenched his teeth. Suddenly the weight that had attacked him was gone. A child screamed. He whipped towards the sound.

Sarah lay trembling underneath the protective body of Hackbot as the creature clawed viciously at him. It had the body plan of a dog, and yet that was where the canine similarity ended. It was a machine through and through. A terrifying machine of alien build, with amber eyes that glowed balefully underneath a backswept crest of ebony black. A mouth like a steel bear trap was currently clenched tightly around Hackbot's arm and as Gin watched it gave its head a quick shake. Something snapped and suddenly Hackbot only had one arm. Sarah screamed again, eyes clenched shut, and the sound was enough to drive Gin into action.

Nothing was said, for there was no need. The mechanical beast loosed a steel screech of rage and agony as Gin's electric blade found its home between a pair of smooth metal shoulder blades. He gave his sword a savage twist. Quick as a flash the mechanical construct had turned on him once more, its steel frame arcing with blue lighting. Hackbot's severed arm fell with a heavy thud to the ground. Sarah scurried away, hid herself behind a nearby tree with her mochtroid friend close beside.

The steel beast collided heavily with Gin's chest, knocking him painfully to the ground and sending tendrils of fire through his injured side. There was nowhere for Gin to drive his blade into. The creature was fortified with heavy metal armour, and aside from the small gap between shoulder blades, it was impenetrable. Quickly he brought his arm up for protection. Strong teeth snapped onto it and began to tear with all their might. Steel ground against steel but Gin's mechanical arm remained strong and defiant. Something blue sparked from between plates of steel, and Gin's eye was drawn towards it. Something buried in this creature's chest: a gem of glowing blue. Without thinking Gin drove his blade into it. The jaws released their hold and Gin scrambled to his feet even as the creature fell to the ground, twitching. Its amber eyes dimmed. Gin took one look at it before scooping Sarah into his arms and making a run towards the temple, Hackbot close beside.

Safety, in the form of ancient carved stone.

Rows of carved bird headed people watched with sympathetic eyes the plight of the four castaways. Watched as they sought solace between the thick stone walls. Watched as the temple Guardian regained its senses and set off after them with hatred boiling in its synthetic eyes. Watched, unable to do anything to stop this bitter misunderstanding. And for that, the Chozo grieved.

The red light from the overly huge triple suns abruptly cut out, and with it, the heat, leaving them in the cool stone scented air of a well ventilated temple. The wind whistled through gaping cracks between stone and steel and the ruckus of the outside suddenly seemed impossibly far away. Here the Chozo glyphs were as intricate as million piece puzzles, lining the walls like silent stone arbiters. Despite himself Gin slowed to a reverent walk. Sarah stared wide eyed up at the huge arched ceiling while an armless Hackbot kept close to her side. Xavier was nowhere to be seen. In the silence the temple was majestic.

Their solace was short lived. The beast of ancient steel and even more ancient rage burst into the hallowed temple, sending the silence scurrying away into the darkness. The fight for survival was on once more. Gin threw all thought out the window in favour of action, pure and simple. And it was that primal action that got both him and his two charges out of harms way a mere second before razor claws raked through the dusty air. Without thinking Gin pushed Sarah and Hackbot into a gap between the stones, a place of cold darkness where they would hopefully be safe.

"Protect her," was all Gin said, before the angered beast tackled him forcefully to the ground.

"Father!" Sarah screamed, crying, reaching out. But Austin gently pulled her back with his one arm and held her tight, squirming as far into the hole as he possibly could and watching the scuffle with a frightened camera eye. Frightened for Sarah. Frightened for himself. And most of all, frightened for his old friend Vaughn Masters.

And the Gin in question wasn't faring all too well. It wasn't helping that he was in all different kinds of pain. He had the aching pain and the stabbing pain and the stinging pain all rolled into one and it was beginning to impair his judgment. He didn't dodge that spiked tail in time and it landed a blow to his organic arm. He was a bit too slow and felt teeth rip into his leg. Blood seeped into his eyes from a gash in his head and his sword glanced off almost impenetrable armour instead of doing damage. While he still had his mental acuity, his physical prowess was beginning to fade from a combination of blood loss and pain. He felt sick to the stomach but managed to keep his wits about him. So he tried out plan B instead, knowing it wouldn't work. He was desperate.

"Why are you attacking us?" he gasped, going on the defensive. The steel creature growled and bit down hard on his mechanical arm. Something snapped; a steel tendon broke. His arm was now heavy instead of light. Blood and oil splashed against the creature's streamlined face. Gin clenched his teeth and tried again.

"We don't mean you any harm," he whispered harshly. "Stop this madness. It won't get you anywhere."

It paid him no heed and bit down harder. Without warning Gin's hand stopped working and his arm was nothing more than a heavy mechanical paperweight. Useless. No doubt broken for good. This creature was too blinded by rage, was not listening to reason. Was going by its own ancient biases and hatreds that Gin did not understand. Shakily he looked to the right, towards his foster daughter and the shaking machine guarding her. His sword lay sputtering between them, and for the briefest of seconds it was not blue but arcing red, as though something inside wanted desperately to escape. Gin blinked hard, certain it was the blood dripping into his eyes playing cruel tricks on him. The electricity was blue again. The sword lay calm upon the dusty floor.

No time to think, no time to ponder. No time to wonder why this creature was attacking with such unbridled ferocity. Gin's arm hurt. Synthetic nerve endings sent out very real pain with each crushing squeeze of those mechanical jaws and Gin had had enough. So it was by a small feat of will that he managed to get his free arm, injured as it was, up to his cybernetic shoulder. He fumbled with the coupling and twice almost lost his fingers to a gnashing mouth of razor sharp teeth. Wicked recurved claws scratched furiously against the steel plate in his chest, ripping fragile flesh wherever they made contact. Gin winced. One of his fingers made contact with a heavy steel latch. He pulled with all his might.

The rush of escaping air and mechanical locks disengaging from flesh didn't really dawn on the steel beast until it found itself mindlessly tearing at a bodiless and now defunct arm. It dropped the arm and looked up in time to see Gin turn a corner and disappear, sword held close. Its steel hackles raised and it growled low in its throat: a deep, gyrating noise, like ancient rocks grinding on the floor of an even more ancient ocean. Ignoring Sarah and Austin cowering between the stones, it set off after the intruder, its claws clicking balefully down the corridor.

Gin desperately needed rest. His now armless shoulder ached something awful. He hadn't been without an arm for a very, very long time, and the raw nerve endings exposed to the air instead of making contact with their synthetic twins was a different kind of pain he hadn't felt for a long while. If he had been of weaker mentality he would've cracked from the stress alone. Instead he continued to run without direction, away from the clicking of metal talons that relentlessly followed him without rest.

Gin tripped over a ruined slab and into the wall, crying out as he fell. Without an arm on his right side to stop him all he could do was fall heavily to the floor, narrowly avoiding the painful smack of skull on stone. He held his side with a trembling hand and hunched down over himself, for a moment unable to move. The creature came into sight at the end of the hallway and broke into a full on charge. Grimacing Gin stumbled to his feet and braced himself.

At the last possible second he fell to the ground, only just missing imminent death. Unable to turn in such a confined and narrow hall, the mechanical beast could do nothing but flail in frustration, its tail smashing against the walls with much more force than was necessary. Gin ducked. The tail flew over his head and smashed into the wall immediately to his left, destroying the surprisingly thin section as easily as one tears paper. Jumping on his chance Gin leapt into the new hole, ignoring the enraged screams behind him.

He jumped into complete darkness. The only light in here was from the wavering blue electricity of his sword. Something about this room was calming, and with a heavy breath Gin slumped against the adjacent wall and slid down until he was sitting. To say he was exhausted was putting it lightly. Again, a brief flash of red light, but Gin did not notice it. His eyelids were drooping, his head was nodding. Sleep seemed like such a nice break. A reprieve…

All seven hundred pounds of steel beast leapt into the room with a thunderous roar, shaking dust free from innumerable cracks. Blindly and not thinking clearly Gin jumped to his feet. Once more the creature charged, and once more Gin somehow managed to dodge. It broke hard into the wall, smashing clean through. Suddenly red light flooded the room and Gin shielded his eyes, his sword held confused before him. With the light was brought the triumphant call of a million insects, each one screaming to the heavens above. The creature turned, snarling-

-And stopped completely.

The hatred simmering behind glass eyes faded and its posture weakened. It was gone. This was the room, and it was gone. Untold centuries, all of them wasted, because there was nothing in here. The temple Guardian had failed. Someone had stolen it. It had attacked for no reason whatsoever, a mere beast acting on impulse alone. The Chozo would not be pleased. Not at all. Watching from whatever higher plane that had ascended to. Without a sound the Guardian sat heavily on its haunches, staring past Gin and into the center of the previously sealed room, at the empty pedestal.

_I have failed. _

Gin let his weapon lower but an iota, suspicious. Behind the suddenly subservient being lay the jungle he had crashed in, exposed through the massive hole in the brittle stone. Through the trees he saw movement, and as he watched familiar forms came through. Two of them, side by side. They paused, no doubt checking the place out. Gin's heart leapt and he uttered a strangled cry of happiness.

The Guardian lapsed out of its shock and turned its amber gaze back on Gin. Slowly and calmly it stood and began towards him. Quickly Gin backed up to the wall, behind the pedestal, shivering. But the beast did not attack. Instead it stopped a few feet from him, studying his sword intently. Reading the runes. Coming to a sickening conclusion. That Gin held the artefact it had been designed to guard, and yet he had not stolen it. He had put himself in harms way in order to save two others and he had only acted in self defense. Where the Guardian had acted in hostility.

Gently it lowered its head, defeated, and Gin followed suit by lowering his sword. Far off, through the gaping hole in the wall, the two figures were joined by two more, and he recognized them as his lost friends. The Guardian made no more move to attack and Gin finally allowed himself the rest he so desperately needed, falling back down to the floor on weakened legs. The sword clattered loudly to the ground and he closed his eyes.

For the time being, it seemed, he was safe.

For the time being.

* * *

Dejet emerged with a Vincent cowering behind her into a clearing, an area where the trees suddenly decided to stop. The temple loomed huge in the centre of the clearing, and at the sight of it Vince seemed to brighten. Perhaps it was because there were no insects over there. He made to run but Dejet held him back, suspicious.

"It looks dangerous," she said simply, pointing. "Look at that hole. It looks fresh."

Vince followed her outstretched finger towards the gaping hole in the side of the temple, shadowed by a jutting stone overhang. Shading his eyes from the hot red suns, he peered into the darkness as best he could. He could just make out the shadowy form of two figures, one sitting hunched and the other further back. With a jolt he recognized the familiar blue sputtering of a familiar electrical blade, and without warning scooped up a surprised Dejet into a joyous hug.

"He's alive!" he exclaimed, barely heard above the roar of insect life. "Gin's alive, Dejet!"

"That's-Amazing," she choked out, the wind forced from her lungs by the force of Vince's hug. "Now please, Vincent- Let me go…"

"Oh! Sorry!" he said sheepishly, gently putting her down. "I forgot how strong I was…"

"I can see that," she replied softly, brushing herself off. Far off, in the dark of the hole, the hunched figure had stood and approached the one in the back. Vince made another move forwards before he was cut off again, this time by movement in the trees behind them. Instantly he put on a mask of fearlessness and moved in front of Dejet, as though protecting her. Despite the situation she smiled to herself, still remembering vividly the incident only a scant half an hour prior where they had attempted, and failed, to kiss.

But it was not a deadly insect that came through the blue tinged leaves. Instead it was a seven foot tall hybrid. A seven foot tall hybrid who took one look at Dejet and instantly brightened despite wearing her full armour.

"Dejet!" she cried, and for the second time Dejet felt herself lift into the air in an almost bone crushing hug. She would have sighed, if she could breathe. Instead she managed to choke out something along the lines of: "Tejed, I love you but-Please put me down…"

And, embarrassed, Tejed set her sister down, backing up a bit to give her some much needed breathing space.

"I thought you were dead," she said quietly, her voice flooded with relief. Vince let his guard drop and turned back to the temple as the Hunter joined them, as well. Dejet smiled a small smile and embraced her sister in a softer hug, one of pure love.

"Apparently Jenals don't die that easily," she said with a morbid little chuckle, which Tejed sadly returned. And they put aside their petty differences, Tejed and Vince's strife, and set off towards the temple, glad to be together again.

And then the gunship that had been silently watching them the entire time decided to make itself known, and with a clap of rolling thunder it landed between them and the temple.

* * *

He stepped from the ship with an air of cold determination, his suit as streamlined and black and alien as the gunship he had been watching them all from. His large feet, reminiscent of a fierce bird of prey, sank softly into the damp earth, leaving huge dinosaur-esque tracks as he walked. Slowly and calmly, he strode. Behind him his ship watched soundlessly, a stoic observer to the chaos that would shortly play out.

"Samus Aran," the hunter announced, stopping a good distance from the ragtag band of freaks. His voice was as deep and cold as an ocean trench. "My name is Vaevictis Asmadi. The Federation has a bounty on your head, and I am here to collect it. May the hunt begin."

Silence. Deafening and absolute. Before, in a moment of panic, Dejet broke from her sister's side and ran off into the jungle, absolutely terrified. Surprised Tejed took off after her, calling her name, and the rest of the group followed. The hunter smiled underneath his jet black helmet. Already he could feel the excitement beginning to wash through his body, the primal urge to hunt that he loved so very much. He took a few steps towards the jungle, flexing his leg muscles. His feet continued to sink into the soft earth and for a moment his smile faded into an annoyed frown. Asmadi did not like this soft earth. His species was specialized to living in mountains and rocky terrain, and his physiology did not allow him to enjoy the sproggy ground this damp planet offered. It annoyed him to no end, and with the onset of that feral smile once more he jumped into the nearest tree and the hunt began.

And far off, in the ruined temple, the Guardian watched with curious and frightened eyes. Not frightened for itself, and even less so for the initiated hunt, but for something else entirely.

_Newborn. _

Was what first flashed through the Guardian's mechanical mind, its amber eyes locked onto that familiar face framed by blonde hair, wearing a simple blue suit, before it disappeared into the dense jungle. Long dormant memories stirred back into the present.

_Keep her safe. _

Was the next.

And without a thought towards its own safety it leapt from the temple, leaving Gin alone to recover what little strength he had left. Gin tried to stand, to follow this strange mechanical creature that had decided not to end his life, but his legs would not cooperate and continued to fail him with every stand he took. Leaving him, for the time being, no more than a tired armless cripple. It was only when Sarah, followed closely by an equally armless Hackbot, ran into the room with tears streaming down her face and flew into Gin's embrace, did he feel reasonably better about the situation. Until he realized the rest of his friends were in danger and he had to help.

"Stay down, Gin," instructed Hackbot, for the moment regaining his lost mind.

"But Samus-"

"-I'd rather you didn't run out there and get yourself killed," the robot instructed softly. "You need rest. There's no point in getting even more hurt right now."

Gin was silent for a moment before laying down once more, his arm wrapped protectively around Sarah. If Austin could smile, he would have. Instead he stood, glanced around the desecrated room, and went off to retrieve his own arm while the hunt continued without remorse in the alien jungle beyond.

And it was out in that alien jungle, high up in the trees, that Vaevictis Asmadi was at his finest. Silence pervaded his mind like a cold blanket. No stray thoughts, no wandering wants; nothing more than the present, imposed over his vision with sharp clarity. The hunt that he was so infamous for. For Asmadi was not known for bringing back his prey, which he always did, he was known for driving his prey to exhaustion and near insanity by a combined torture and capture. He played with their puny little minds before he caught them, almost like a cat playing with a caught bird before viciously snapping its neck.

And Asmadi enjoyed it greatly.

His prey, on the other hand, didn't. Especially Dejet, who had taken one look at that formidable visage and high tailed it back into the trees. The venomous deadly insects offered far safer a refuge than a determined and decidedly terrifying bounty hunter. It was her equally terrifying sister who ran after her next, followed by Samus and Vince. And it was that sister who was doing all she could to protect Dejet.

"Dejet, come back!" Tejed yelled frantically. High up in the trees Asmadi laughed, and for a moment the incessant insect call faltered and stopped.

"Tejed!" yelled Samus, grabbing hold of the hybrid's hand. Tejed came to a shuddering stop and glanced around in every conceivable angle. And all she saw: trees and plants and bugs. No Dejet. Nothing but the endless expanse of alien jungle tinted dark by her visor. Desperate she began to cry.

"I have to find her-"

"-No," instructed the Hunter, stopping her before she got lost in the jungle, as well. "No, Tejed. We need you here. As long as she finds a hiding spot Dejet will be safe."

"But she's by herself…" whispered the hybrid sadly, still searching the overwhelming jungle for anything even remotely familiar. For the first time since she had first been captured by the Pirates so very long ago, Tejed felt alone. Without her sister, she didn't know what to do. It was as though a piece of her poor diseased soul had been violently ripped away, leaving in its place a hole that could not be filled.

It was the explosion that she did not hear but felt that broke her from the onset of sorrow. The contained yet just as dangerous explosion from a carelessly lofted energy grenade, that buffeted them all with hot searing winds and stripped the nearby trees of their foliage. Vince and Samus, both without armour, gasped in sudden pain, their breath snatched away by the harsh stealing wind. Asmadi's rumbling liquid laughter faded away in time with the explosion, superimposed over everything else like something straight out of a dream.

Without stopping to think Samus started running, Vince and Tejed close behind. They didn't know where exactly they were running to, only that staying still was a death sentence. More of those explosive blasts, this time aimed off to the side, tearing through jungle and creature with equal malice. The intent of which not to harm but to scare. Whether it worked or not Asmadi did not know. And while he surely heard the insects and the trees and the bass thrum of the planet itself, he did not hear the familiar screams that usually accompanied a hunt. He frowned and ceased lobbing grenades, hand going for a laser rifle. Time to step the game up a notch.

It was Vince who cried out in pain first and staggered, falling against a tree. His shirt was torn and a burnt wound ran jagged across his chest, still sizzling from the heat. Quick as a flash Samus was at his side, and, grinning up in the trees, Asmadi fired again. Soundless his rifle fired, and Samus found herself with a matching wound, hers crawling possessively up her arm. Asmadi cocked and aimed again, chuckling to himself, and fired a last time. But instead of screams his ears were graced by the dull sound of laser clanging off armour. He frowned. The hybrid was using her body as a shield to protect her friends, the rifle shots, though denting her armour, doing no real damage.

With a wolfish grin Asmadi leapt to a better vantage point, still firing.

It was only when Tejed glanced quickly to the left did she see it: her sister's terrified face, staring at her from behind a tangle of ancient roots. A well placed shot from the laser rifle clipped Tejed upside the head, flinging her helmet clear from her head. Her world erupted in a blinding flash of red light and uproarious noise. She screamed and grabbed at her head, backing away from the two people moments earlier she had been trying to protect. Intrigued, her attacker paused and watched silently.

Once more Tejed's senses had been overloaded, leaving her useless until she managed to get her helmet back. As long as the insects continued to scream and the planet remained insufferably hot, she was out of the game. So, with whatever little scrap of her former mind she had left, she stumbled over to her hidden sister and curled behind the roots with her, shivering spasmodically and weeping phorescent tears.

One of the pawns was out of the way, leaving Asmadi's bounty standing strong and defiant, daring him to reap his reward. Which was exactly what he did. And with a ground shuddering landing he jumped from his treetop perch.

"Dear Hunter," he hissed with that deep voice of his. "While the hunt has been short, it is time for me to end it. No regrets, of course…"

Smiling his crocodile smile from behind jet black glass, he silently approached her and grabbed her chin, pulling her face upwards. Clear blue eyes with a splash of green stared back resolute, a hard contrast between Asmadi's calculating eyes of burnt ash. But something was missing, something crucial he always saw in his myriad past bounties. The fear. The terror. It wasn't there. Samus' eyes presented him with nothing more than cold determination and a certain calmness he had never seen before. It amused him highly and he pulled his face close to hers.

"You are not afraid."

It wasn't a question but a statement.

"I have no reason to be."

Vince lay pained on the jungle floor, holding tightly his wound, as Tejed's soft crying somehow managed to persist despite the constant insectoid uproar. Vince realized with a curious dread that there was nothing he could do. Years working in the Federation's Elite program could not help him now. He was injured, Samus was about to die, and Tejed was currently out of her mind. Asmadi reached up and pressed the side of his helmet; the thick black glass swiveled back, revealing his scarred alien face. He smiled that twisted grin of his, the thick leathery skin around his almost primitive looking muzzle crinkling accordingly.

"Do you fear me now?" he asked softly. Dark blue lips pulled back revealed equally dark gums sporting neat little teeth, each of them sharp and pointed and mean looking. Where Samus had instinctively crinkled her nose at the expectant onrush of fetid dank breath, she was instead greeted with an almost sweet smell, like subtle grass. Asmadi laughed accordingly.

"That's what I love about your race," he sneered spitefully. "You always expect the worst."

And with that he pulled away, all four of his black eyes glinting in the harsh red light. The visor swiveled back into place and he readied his pistol.

"May you die fearless and strong, Samus Aran," Asmadi stated, and it seemed as though there was a touch of reverence in his alien voice. She calmly closed her eyes and lowered her head in defeat, awaiting the inevitable.

The shot never came. Instead, a resounding steel screech.

And as the Hunter watched with that unwavering determination, her attacker was himself attacked by something clearly not of this world. Something comprised of sleek alien steel with eyes that burned baleful amber underneath a jet black crest. Asmadi cried out not in pain but in surprise, the mechanical creature's jaws clamped around his armoured neck. He brought his hands up in an attempt to rest those jaws free but the Guardian clamped down even harder, growling deep in its throat all the while. Jumping on her chance, Samus grabbed Vince by the arm and ran to the still incapacitated Tejed and her terrified sister. There was no point staying separate when they were stronger together.

Asmadi struggled with the heavy creature, minor panic fluttering up in the back of his calculated mind. For the first time in his long, long life, he was experiencing the one thing he elicited in every one of his bounties: fear. Fear that his life was finally coming to a shuddering end and he could do nothing about it. But fear, most of all, that he would not complete the hunt. If Asmadi died, his honour died with him.

No. Asmadi was not about ready to let this meddling machine come and ruin his life. So, falling as always back on that cold intelligence of his, with his free hand he grabbed his Federation laser pistol and jammed it into the Guardian's steel breastplate; unknowingly centering on its glowing blue heart. Once again it screamed a mechanical screech and abruptly let go, jumping quickly backwards. Asmadi regained his balance. The Guardian's charred breastplate gleamed in the bright daylight and slowly it began to circle, glancing back only once at the now grown Newborn it had come here to protect. Rapid fire visions flitted through its head, one after the other.

_A feathered hand, snapping the last polished plate into place. When the Guardian looked up through its new eyes it saw an old, beaked face, and in the background, a sprawling temple crawling with robed bird people. Its creator said something in an ancient dialect. Something about guarding the temple, keeping the priceless artefact inside safe. At the time, the Guardian could do nothing but agree. _

Its steel hackles raised and it hissed, low and deep, threatening. Its black talons dug into the soft earth and its tail thrashed angrily. Asmadi raised his pistol again, sneering. The Guardian's tail whipped forwards with a near imperceptible twitch of its rump and the pistol was no longer in Asmadi's hand but laying far, far away on the forest floor. Shocked, he brought his hand back, holding it tight. His suit was cracked and he could see his dark flesh underneath. Asmadi was not happy.

_Protect the Newborn, instructed its creator. Protect the artefact. Anyone who dares to hurt either is an enemy. The Zebesians are the enemy. The Utragians. The Space Pirates. The universe is filled with thieves and rogues and sinister evils, like the one sealed away in the sword. Know when to attack, and know when to stand down. You'll be here for untold millennia, and possibly more… _

Baldur? Was that his name? That ancient evil sealed away inside the sword it had been instructed to guard? So much for that, it thought dimly. But maybe… Maybe it could redeem itself by protecting something else equally as important. Something else that had been born and grown while the Guardian had sat here and gathered dust. Though it had been created long before Samus' birth, the Chozo had supplied it with the knowledge it needed by way of psychic link when she had come into being. They had to, like they had with all the other Guardians they had posted on countless other worlds. For if the Newborn happened to wander into one of their steel beasts, the steel beast in question had to know who she was.

_And then they were leaving, ascending into that red coloured sky in huge, beautiful space ships the colour of old bronze and wood. It was all alone. The only sentient force upon that lonely planet. The being in the sword did not count, of course. Given time, he would give up his frantic efforts to escape and fall into slumber, a privilege that the Guardian itself could not afford. So it sat upon the carved stone steps of the temple and began to watch the surrounding jungle. _

Another whip of that heavy steel tail, snapping armour and bone equally. Asmadi did not cry out in pain, instead he growled just as low and sultry as her and put up a stone defense. When it next tried to break that armour Asmadi had dodged and grabbed its tail, yanking the Guardian towards it. He managed to land one heavy fist to its back before the beast managed to tear itself away, limping awkwardly with its bent back. But its eyes continued to burn vengeful amber, and it continued its assault as though nothing else in the universe mattered.

_And then there was the time when communication with its creators suddenly stopped. There was no more psychic link. It was almost as if the Chozo had up and vanished, taking their wisdom and their thoughts with them. Leaving their relics behind. At that point, the Guardian knew what had happened. Its creators had finally ascended, and for the first time in its existence it truly was alone. But it had a job to do, and it would guard this temple until it was no more than a dead shell on the forest floor, overcome by the relentless assault of nature. It would continue to guard. It would continue to guard… _

Asmadi would die, the Guardian would see to it personally. He would burn eternally for committing such a travesty against the Newborn, for letting the cold evils of space worm their way into his mind in such an insidious manner. Its black talons contracted in impotent rage and it jumped, caring not for its well being. And as it jumped it lashed out one last time with its heavy steel cable of a tail, this time whacking Asmadi's helmet clear from his head. The bounty hunter stumbled, tried to gain good footing, but his heavy frame and splayed feet kept sinking into the soft damp earth, hampering his progress. So when the Guardian collided forcefully with his chest, mouth snapping at his face, he lost his balance.

_No one harms the Newborn,_ it thought vengefully, bringing its steel trap of a mouth quickly down on Asmadi's exposed neck. He struggled, of course, screaming vile curses and piteous cries to the heavens above. His bright blue blood stained the spongy earth as well as the Guardian's face, and after a few long moments his struggles ceased. Veavictis Asmadi was dead. The Guardian of the temple was victorious.

It immediately turned its bloody sight on the next threat to the Newborn's well being: the hybrid tentatively trying to retrieve her discarded helmet. The hybrid whose claws continued to contract out of sheer pain, who was blind to everything and deaf to the world and desperately wanted her helmet back even though she didn't realize that she needed it. The Guardian's steel hackles raised once more and this time it forsook the growl in favour of a rapid attack. It was Dejet who screamed in terror as the steel beast grabbed Tejed in a tooth filled head lock, and Samus Aran herself who limped painfully to her feet and crawled from the protective tangle of roots.

"Stop!" she demanded, hoping all to hell the Chozo had given it the language of English to understand. Her hunch was right, and though it did not loosen its hold it did not tighten it, either. "Stop," the Hunter breathed once more. "Don't kill her. She's not a threat."

_It's a Space Pirate. _

"And she's not a Space Pirate," Samus said quietly, as though reading the Guardian's mind. "Please. Let her go…"

Hesitantly the Guardian loosened its grip and backed up, allowing the hybrid to finally grab the helmet she had been inching ever so slowly towards. With the helmet came such much needed sanity, and with a deep breath she found her feet, eliciting a furious glare from the steel beast in the process. Ignoring the creature that had been seconds earlier intent on killing her, Tejed returned back to the roots to coax out and comfort her terrified sister, while Vincent tended to his injuries. Samus did nothing but stand and survey, her light blue eyes taking in every detail of the temple Guardian. It was Chozonian, she knew that much. It was a small feat in itself _not_ to notice the distinct ornate patterns that adorned the steel beast's hide, decorating metal parts that were made with efficiency in mind. At the same time, the Guardian seemed ancient and brand new, and Samus wondered for a moment how long it had been stationed here for.

"My name is Samus Aran," she said suddenly. The Guardian turned to look at her, discreetly bowing its head in the process. Samus smiled wanly. "But I suppose you already know that…"

_I must protect you… _

"How long have you been here for…?"

_Untold millennia… _

The Guardian could not answer. The constant advance of nature, on both the temple and its body, coupled with the steady procession of time, had worn away its mechanical voice box to the point where all it could do was hiss and growl. If it could talk, it would have. After all, it was well versed in a good number of languages and its mechanical mind did not allow it to forget. For the time being, though, all it could do was bow its head in a show of understanding and rumble deep in its throat. Samus sighed.

"I hate it," spat Tejed, and Samus jumped, oblivious to the hybrid standing right beside her. "It tried to kill me."

In response the steel beast growled and stood, staring daggers at her. And Tejed, being as off the wall as she was, decided somewhere in that broken mind of hers to egg the thing on instead of leaving it alone like she should have.

"Aaw, does the steel freak not like it when I get too close to Samus?" she taunted, putting her claw on Samus' shoulder. Steel hackles rose once more and it took a step forward. Underneath her helmet, Tejed grinned. Samus pushed Tejed away and shook her head, indicating that the hybrid should hold her tongue and be smart about it. The smile faded in place of a cold sneer and Tejed did as she was told. Eying Tejed sideways lest she do something stupid, Samus turned her attention back to the Guardian. She thought for a moment before asking her question.

"There was another man was with us," she started. "He had a mechanical arm and a sword. Have you seen him?"

_Oh, have I? _

In a flash it took off into the jungle, stopping only once to look back, as if to ask: _Why aren't you following me, yet_? Samus followed in a heartbeat, leaving her compatriots behind to get themselves together, which they undoubtedly could. No. Samus had to see Gin, had to make sure he was alright. Before something bad happened. The Guardian led her through thick foliage to a sudden clearing, and with a jolt she recognized the temple once more, sitting complacently on the other side of Asmadi's now defunct ship. And… Who was that, propped up against the side of the temple and clearly unconscious? And who was _that_, crouching over him in a black cape with the glint of knives at their side?

"Gin!" Samus cried out, running towards him, utterly terrified. Beside her the Guardian growled. The cloaked figure quickly stood and turned, though for all the conceived menace in its appearance; the hidden face, the glint of razor sharp daggers, the dark colours it wore; it did not seem to mean harm. Quite the opposite, actually.

"I finally found Vaughn!" it announced in a clearly feminine, and at that clearly happy, voice. She then pointed to her left, and dumbfounded Samus followed the line of the outstretched finger to the Hackbot standing meekly off to the side. "And Zeta Hawk!" Hackbot waved accordingly. And to make matters even more bizarre, with a childish squeal Sarah herself leapt up from behind and attached herself to this strange woman's neck, pulling her hood free and revealing her face in the process. She laughed good naturedly and Samus did not know what to do.

"And apparently this is Sarah!" she exclaimed as the rest of Samus' ragtag band arrived, each of them just as confused as she was.

"Who-?" was all Samus managed to say before Sarah blurted out: "Her name's Luna! Like the moon!" She hugged tighter. "But I'ma call her Booby Lady cause her boobs are so big!" At that Luna blushed, her pale skin for a moment flushing diffuse red, before she turned her soft yellow eyes on Samus, smiling weakly. And Samus, for the first time in ever so long, was completely and utterly confused, her aura of calm reflection whisked briskly away on unseen winds.

"But-" she started once more. "How- How did you get here?"

And Luna pointed over her shoulder, indicating the small, almost unseen small, one person gunship that was sitting, crashed and broken, off to the side of the temple.

"I followed you," was her simple response. Luna let her eyes rove over Samus and her friends, straying for a moment almost playfully, reminiscently, on Vince, before moving on. If she was going to say something in regards to him, she didn't. Instead she glanced once more down at the unconscious Gin and then back up at everyone else.

"Well?" she asked, as though she were waiting for something important to happen that everyone else didn't seem to get. "Vaughn's sitting here with one arm. Are we getting off this planet or what?"

* * *

High Commander Jack Johnson was in one of his rare happy moods. Earlier Jim Shaw had actually done something right: he had managed to find and hire a hulking huge Coultram by the name of Vaevictis Asmadi, and Johnson knew just by glancing at him that the alien bounty hunter would do the job. And what was the job? Find and eliminate that thorn in his side by the name of Vaughn Masters, along with Samus Aran. Whoever else happened to be with them was as good as dead. And he was hoping that repulsive monstrosity the Pirates lost called TransFuse was with them…

But he was in too good a mood to be bothered by such trivialities. In the off chance that TransFuse wasn't with its ragtag band of _friends_, well then it would die just as quickly at the hands of Johnson's newest little project. As soon as it got done, of course. In the meantime the High Commander was perfectly content sitting in his office, gazing with happy eyes down at the city sprawled so very far below.

He held in one of his languid hands a device similar in appearance to a simple hand held communicator, and with a content air held it up, light glancing off its sleek black steel case. Johnson's grin widened accordingly as he ran a finger over the pair of unlabelled dials, the only features on an otherwise blank box.

"We had a good run," he muttered absently to himself, turning the lower dial. The red marker came to a stop on the number seven before he spun it once more, counting all the way through to ten and back to one. "But in the end even the strongest undergo rebellion…"

The upper dial had nothing save a ring of etched marks, nothing to distinguish one from the other. Whatever they pointed to, only Johnson knew, for he had memorized their hidden meanings ages ago.

"I can't help but miss you though… My trained dogs…"

His door opened then closed and someone walked in, slowly, hesitantly.

"…You had dogs, sir?" came a cautious voice. Though it fell a fraction of an inch, the High Commander's smile faded, and with one last nostalgic look at the dial he replied in a faraway tone: "No. I had super soldiers."

And then he turned, placing the small machine on a corner of his immaculately cleaned desk. Casually he folded his hands on the desk in front of him and leaned back in his chair.

"Anthony Higgs!" he announced cheerily, and the man in question looked deeply disturbed. "What brings you to my office this fine day?"

"Uh… Transference of high risk inmates complete, sir…" Anthony said slowly, as though forgetting for a moment what he had come here for. Johnson nodded in approval. More stuff going right instead of wrong. He could easily get used to this. Hesitantly Anthony took a step forward, fidgeting with his hands. "But… _Super soldiers_, sir…?" And just like that, though physically his smile stayed in place, Johnson's happiness faded completely, and inside he was a black hollow filled with anger. Milking the happy façade for all it was worth he stood, slowly, and absently reached into his desk.

"Anthony, you're a good man," he started. "You really are. One of the best point men to lead a team of soldiers I've ever seen. And your work on the Bottle Ship was, suffice it say, admirable."

Whatever he pulled from the desk, Anthony did not see, for it was instantly concealed in his pocket. And like the crocodile he was, always wearing that fake smile, Johnson approached Anthony and laid a hand on his shoulder almost comfortingly.

"There's a lot I've always wanted to tell you," the High Commander said quietly. Anthony stayed standing, frightened to stay but even more frightened to leave. "Like how those prisoners you personally saw to aren't going to another high security jail. No, they're going to a special facility I personally built, part of a special project I personally financed. To become a special breed of super soldiers that I personally created."

He let his words sink in before pulling back, hand around the pistol in his pocket. It felt so very nice to actually _tell_ someone what he was doing, instead of veiling the truth behind lies and secrecy. Even though shortly Anthony Higgs would be no more than a lifeless corpse, for the time being, he was a receptacle. A receptacle to a special brand of madness that Johnson would never realize he had. The High Commander chuckled to himself even as Anthony remained ever silent, ever serious.

"Man, it feels good to tell someone!" Johnson exclaimed. "Instead of blathering on to that idiot Jim all the time." And with that he sighed, growing suddenly sad. "Unfortunately you've now become expendable. Which is a shame. Because I really did like you." And when he looked back up there was a laser pistol in his hand, trained neatly between Anthony's eyes.

What Johnson had seemed to have forgotten was the fact that Anthony Higgs was one hell of a good soldier, and in the space of a second a round house kick to the arm sent the weapon clattering noisily to the ground. For the first time in ages, his countenance cracked and fell: High Commander Jack Johnson's face contorted into an almost feral expression of utmost hatred. Anthony was already out of the room and down the stairs, making his escape with a head full of knowledge.

"SECURITY!" Johnson yelled, running after Anthony as though his life depended on it. "Get him before he escapes!"

But Anthony was already floors down, and by the time the security in Galactic Federation HQ managed to assemble the man was long gone. Johnson swore convulsively and lashed out angrily at the feeble humans that constituted his guards, almost breaking one's jaw in the process. Without warning he grabbed the nearest one by the throat and held him close.

"You bastards call yourself _security_?" he screamed, dragging the poor man back into his office where he retrieved the fallen pistol. "You DARE use that title when you _can't even stop one man from escaping?_" All kinds of angry and with little to no control he jammed the pistol into the man's head and made a show of pulling the trigger three separate times, spraying the on looking guards with three distinct clouds of red.

"THAT'S what would have happened to Anthony! If you were any kind of COMPETENT! Now _get out of here and find him!_"

Furious he kicked the dead security guard from his office and slammed the doors shut. His mind was a simmering miasma of conflicting thoughts and sadistic ideas. He knew, deep down, that it was entirely his fault there was now someone running around his city with forbidden knowledge in their head. Johnson had grown cocky and arrogant, and he couldn't let that happen again. With furious eyes he turned to the windows, turning his gaze down to the shipyard far below. And what did he see? He saw a small ship, no doubt housing Anthony Higgs, take off.

No one moved to stop him.

Except for the lone missile turret that swiveled on smooth joints to aim and let off one missile. It careened through the air on a chaotic track, leaving in its wake a coiling trail of smoke, before exploding into the side of Anthony's ship. Johnson smiled as the ship wobbled feebly ever upwards before plummeting a few hundred feet.

"Looks like they aren't useless, after all," he muttered balefully. But then the tiny craft somehow seemed to right itself, and with considerably less fervour then before scuddered up and out of site. Once again the High Commander was not smiling. Angrily he brought his fist down on his desk. The dialed box he had been reminiscing over early shuddered and fell to the floor.

"_Security_!" he yelled once more, and this time one man cautiously entered the room, eyeing his dead companion as he did so. Johnson wasted neither words nor time, and with another surge of anger that he usually reserved for misbehaving Elites shot the newcomer clean through the head. Then a second time when he fell lifeless to the ground. Then a third in the chest. And a fourth. Then without really thinking things through but angry all the same he grabbed the body and chucked it clear through the huge bay windows. The destruction calmed him and he sat heavily in his chair, stepping over broken glass.

"Fucking hell…" he muttered angrily, getting his anger under control. With a deep breath he clasped his hands in front of him, already falling back on his cold intelligence to formulate another plan. There was no use getting angry. No use throwing logic out the window in favour of flawed emotion. No point at all.

Quickly he stood and strode from the room. He already knew what to do.

* * *

AN/ Oh god damn it. It seems as though has decided that my earlier line breaks should no longer work. Which means I have to go back and edit every single previous chapter. Which is all fine and dandy. Because I've been meaning to do some rewriting for a while, now. Ah, well. Enjoy, and in return, so too will I. :)


	21. Chapter 21

_To say the events of the recent past haven't been mind blowing would be the most severe of understatements. And to think it all began when I took pity on one Zebesian experiment. It's been a rough road, to say the least. Not only have I been fighting my external demons but I've had plenty of internal conflicts to contend with, as well. Small, simple things that most normal people would take completely for granted. The finding of love, the creation of a family, the evolution of myself. _

_But while it's been rough it's also been extremely rewarding, and I would be lying if I said the events of the recent past haven't been among some of the best experiences I've ever had. Indeed, it seems as though hardship and joy, in a perverse sort of way, go hand in hand. You cannot experience one without living the other, and vice versa. The universe works in strange ways that I'm more than happy not understanding. s_

_And the simple act of not understanding makes the future that much more unpredictable and amazing. I never would have thought that the mechanical creature we encountered on that sad unnamed planet would then go on to live with us. It left the overgrown temple that was its home quickly, as though it no longer had any reason to stay. It even showed a peculiar compassion for the man it had hurt and has been keeping a close eye on me ever since. It seems Chozonian in structure but I've never in all my years seen anything like it. _

_Then comes the curious case of Gin's would be assassin, the woman who had apparently been stalking him through all of our current adventures. Imagine my surprise when she revealed herself as not a killer, but an old, old friend. And imagine his surprise when he awakes to see that she's not just a dream. I think the simple act of me seeing Gin happy will make me happy in turn, and I'm not sure whether my emotions are a blessing or a curse. _

_I'll take it as a blessing for now. _

_If only the universe were more understandable. Then I would know what he Federation and the Space Pirates have in store for my makeshift family. Until that time comes, I'm determined to make the best of it. _

_Samus Aran_

* * *

He awoke to darkness. Pure. Absolute. The kind of inky blackness that stuck to your flesh and clung obsessively to your being like a cold living creature. Thick and dank. Without odour. Oozing malevolence.

Naturally, Vaughn was scared.

Unnaturally, he supressed the urge to scream, ignored the tugging weight at the back of his mind that threatened to throw him into confused panic. He remained calm even as his breath quickened in his chest and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight, prickling his skin with gooseflesh. Carefully he raised his left arm: it brushed softly against cold steel no more than a few inches from his face. Confused he went to do the same with his right, only to realize with sickening dread that his right arm was long gone, in its place a sore, bandaged stump.

What had happened? He couldn't remember. Pirates? It had been pirates. The space kind. One of them… One of them had attacked, and severed his arm. Vaughn closed his eyes as he remembered the scene and exhaled a single halting breath. There had been pain, and the wound still had not healed properly. Would it hurt forever? Probably.

He opened his eyes again. The darkness remained as still and real as ever. Tenderly he groped around with his feet, painting a grim picture in his mind when they too came to rest on that same cold steel. A box. A coffin. A sterile steel grave playing host to a still alive man. He closed his eyes once more, welcoming the comforting darkness of his own eyelids in place of the hostile shadow that hissed silently from the furthest darkest corners.

Vaughn took a deep breath and steadied his racing thoughts as best as he could. Gently he brought up his only arm and began to feel around that featureless steel roof. There had to be more reason to this than simply being trapped in a steel coffin. And there, in the seam of the corner, was his reason: a hinge. A lid. Tenderly he pushed, and the cover came off with no resistance.

Harsh, sterile white light flooded his vision and with pained squeals the darkness slithered silently away. Groggily, Vaughn slowly sat up and looked around, bleary eyed. He brought his only hand across his face in a vain attempt to wrest away the haze but it remained stubbornly across his vision. He groaned. The stump of his arm hurt, his head hurt, and above all else his entire body was stiff and painful.

"But where…?" he muttered, his vision finally beginning to clear. Carefully he crawled out of his steel coffin and stood, stretching his cramped muscles long and hard. This place seemed familiar, for sure. It reeked of Federation and day old musty chemicals and had a certain sort of familiarity to it that he couldn't quite place. Curious he turned to inspect the construct that had held him and suddenly it all fit together.

He was in the morgue. Earlier he had faked his own death. To the Federation, Vaughn Masters no longer existed save for a slowly rotting corpse.

Despite his predicament he let out a stifled, giddy sort of laugh and covered his growing smile with a shaking hand. He had made it! His plan had worked and he was, for all intents and purposes, dead to the Federation. He could leave now, for without his brother, what else was there to do? This program didn't have anything else for him except sorrow and guilt, and he had more than enough sorrow and guilt for this lifetime. And quite possibly the next.

Voices, far away. Steadily growing closer, accompanied by the clip clop of worn, hard shoes. The euphoria quickly faded, in its place the slow growth of fear and adrenaline and Physeter induced madness. Vaughn held his hand to his head, fighting a wave of sudden dizziness, and quickly hid behind the nearest and only thing he could find: a huge worn steel desk wiped meticulously clean that smelled of stale metal and formaldehyde.

Two men walked in, their long white coats nearly scraping the polished floor. They spoke amongst themselves in hushed, almost reverent tones. Or was that fear that Vaughn heard, lacing their voices with the most delicate barely audible strains? Whatever it was, they failed to notice the single refrigerated casket laying open at the far end of the room, testament to the dead man who had bravely crawled forth.

"Masters died, eh?" asked one of the men, his voice almost as soft as his pale, pale sun starved skin. His companion tsked under his breath but said nothing. "I always thought he was a survivor…"

The clean rasp of surgical steel instruments on sterile clothe. Of papers being ruffled. A soft clack as a drawer was opened, then closed. Its oiled hinges noiseless in the cold air. Then, a pause. Tangible yet still light. They had noticed, yet they said nothing. As though the sight was oddly normal and there was no real reason to cause a fuss.

Vaughn Masters, presumed dead, took no chances. Now was not the time for chance, it was the time for action, and action was what he leapt into in one seamless jump. The two men fell soundless to the floor and he fled the room. Nothing remained but cold, surgical silence, as deep and impenetrable as the ocean waters.

* * *

To say Samus was worried was putting it lightly, indeed. She paced Gin's bedside and kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye like clockwork. And yet, no sign of life. Not yet, anyway. He had been confined to the bed for days now and showed no indication of waking any time soon. She sighed, a quick, stalling sound, and continued her relentless pacing.

"…Anything yet?"

Startled she stopped and looked up towards the door, her hand fluttering to her chest. Days of stress hoping against hope that the man she loved would wake only added to her frazzled mindset. Guiltily, though a real reason for guilt eluded her, she looked to the ground and closed her eyes.

"Nothing," she stated bluntly, unconsciously speaking not like Samus Aran but like the Hunter that she was. "His life signs are at a constant. No fluctuation. For all intents and purposes he should be awake and speaking to us. But he's not…"

She let her voice trail off and leaned heavily against the wall for support. Silently Dejet edged into the room and took the seat by Gin's bed. For a moment all she did was stare at him, laying there armless in sheets of almost brilliant unstained white. She cracked a small smile.

"At least he's not in pain, eh?"

And the Hunter, speaking now like Samus Aran, smiled as well and opened her eyes.

"At least."

* * *

The outside was cold. Vaughn didn't remember the outside ever being this cold before. The chill, arctic breeze cut through his meagre hospital gown and made the sore stump of his shoulder ache in pain. He grimaced and ran without looking back. He knew they were following. Why wouldn't they? They had a mission, of course. Just like he did. Retrieve Omega Phoenix and not lose their jobs, and their heads.

If only that blasted wind would stop blowing…

In his blind, near panicked state he didn't realize how close they had gotten. Hadn't heard their shouts or felt the heat of their weapons or smelled the rank stench of corruption seeping from their Federation suits like a languid poison. Not until the pain of laser shot clipped the side of his head and almost sent him sprawling to the cold, hard ground. Crying out he stumbled and quickly looked back.

Federation HQ loomed tall and menacing, spearing the ash coloured sky with unnatural vengeance. For a moment the wind shifted direction and was no longer blowing away but towards the building, and for that second it felt as though it were pulling him back with all the strength it could muster.

Vaughn shuddered and sprinted away as fast as he could. Like dogs, the Federation followed.

Blood from the graze seeped into his eyes, almost blinding him. Resolutely he wiped it away and ran into the nearest alley he could find, hoping with whatever remained that he could lose them. A twisting cavalcade of shadows and darkness followed, one alley leading into another before suddenly breaking into three and losing all semblance of order. Vaughn didn't think. He just ran. Until the yelled voices faded into the wind and all that remained was its steady whistle through the buildings.

Vaughn Masters then allowed himself to rest, forgetting in the haze of adrenaline and Physeter a very important rule: never stop running. When the intensity of the chase cools down, you're at your most vulnerable. When the door opened and two pairs of overly huge arms pulled him in, Vaughn couldn't fight back. He didn't have the strength and the rush of adrenaline was starting to ebb away. All he could do was yelp once before the door closed, and the relentless wind gave way to even more relentless blackness.

* * *

The room was silent. Even the machines with their incessant beeping sat hushed, afraid to break the quiet that had lingered for weeks on end. Diligently Dejet made her rounds. First she checked one machine, then the other, then stopped. Thin scribbling, pen on paper. Despite the technological advances of her time, she still preferred writing traditionally. Said it kept her head sane even when the world was far gone. Whether it worked or not, only she knew.

But everything was at a steady constant, like always. His heart continued to beat, his lungs continued to breath, and his body continued to live. The only thing dead were the electric impulses that would have normally powered his brain and thought processes. Dejet sighed and shook her head; imperceptible and light. Still comatose, still asleep.

"Will you ever awake?" she asked quietly. She held her clipboard to her chest and heaved a heavy sigh, her unkempt copper-red hair falling across her face. Her eyes were old, tired. She told herself not to cry. Tenderly she approached the chair by his bed and sat, staring not at Gin but at the far wall, thinking her private thoughts in this silent place where only the machines shared her fear.

She didn't notice when she was no longer alone.

"…How-"

The scarred voice seemed to get stuck and for a moment its owner was at a complete loss for words. Tension. Awkward silence. The creaking of steal legs as she took a seat on the other side of Gin's bed. Dejet brought her attention back to reality and looked across the way, at her sister sitting with apprehension and sorrow and a million other emotions all mashed into one.

"The same," she said simply, and all Tejed could do was lay her head on Gin's chest and force herself not to cry her corrupt Phazon tears. Smiling Dejet put down her clipboard and leaned across as well, gently taking the hybrid's clawed hand in her own.

"He'll be fine," she said with a smile, an effort to ease her sister's ravaged mind. "His vitals are stable and his body is in good shape. All he needs to do is wake up."

"What if he doesn't?" asked Tejed with a sob.

"He'll wake up," Dejet replied, more to console herself than Tejed. And for a brief moment, she really believed it. "He'll wake up."

* * *

He woke gradually to the same darkness that he had woken to untold hours ago. The same darkness that clung greedily to every available surface and hungrily gobbled up all available light. The same darkness he had fallen into when he had just reached salvation.

Vaughn Masters was really starting to detest darkness.

He blinked once. Twice. The darkness did not yield. He sighed lightly, the briefest of exhales. He thought about his situation. Where was he? He didn't know. What time was it? He didn't know that, either. Maybe the Federation had captured him again? And yet for all the dark this place didn't feel like the Federation. It lacked… What? Sterile cleanliness? Hatred? Greed? It lacked all those things and more. Wherever he was, this place wasn't evil. Just dark.

And then the lights came on completely without warning. Surprised he squeezed his eyelids shut and willed the pain in the backs of his eyes to go away. A door opened somewhere. Heavy footsteps. Scraped steel on steel. Silence. The pain faded. Gingerly he opened his eyes again.

"Why were you running?"

Vaughn didn't answer, at least not right away. He was far too busy trying to discern where he was, in a place that he did not recognize in the slightest. Far different from the sterile white of the Federation, the walls here instead were stained and dirty and marked from years of neglect. Piles of junk lay in the corners of crates stacked haphazardly touched the low ceiling, their steel exteriors marked with acronyms and logos he couldn't quite make out. The air had a musty odour to it, but it still somehow felt clean, pure. Like the malignance of the Federation hadn't touched this place yet.

"Come now, I know you're awake. Answer when you feel ready."

The voice, though deep and gravelly and for all intents and purposes frightening, didn't sound as though it meant harm, and with a pained grunt Vaughn tried to sit up. Almost instantly there were large hands on his chest, holding him down, and he instantly recognized them as the ones that had grabbed him that indeterminable amount of time ago. Vaughn's shoulder ached and for a moment he couldn't breathe. Gruff laughter filled the tiny room.

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" it asked with a touch of humour. "You're still weak, don't try to sit up too fast, okay?"

And the hands left, leaving Vaughn to sit up again, this time slowly. He took a deep breath of the strangely clean air and put his hand to his chest, feeling his lungs fill and his rib cage heave. His head hurt and he was dizzy, but he would survive. That deep laughter again, this time noticeably quieter.

"You were running from the Federation, weren't you?"

Vaughn didn't answer and looked up. His abductor was sitting on a pile of crates bedecked in shadow and Vaughn couldn't make out any details save for a huge figure and four arms the size and width of small tree trunks. Whoever had saved him, he looked like he could easily snap him in half. Unsure of his intentions, Vaughn remained diligently silent.

"Don't worry, we're safe," said his abductor after a moment, and he slipped from the crates, the room trembling softly. "The Federation has no hold on this place. You don't have to worry about getting caught again."

He approached the side of Vaughn's bed, his tail scraping softly against the ground.

"Come now champ, why don't you tell ole' Big Daddy what this is all about, eh?"

More silence. Though he was smiling, Vaughn wasn't sure what this alien meant to do with him. He seemed sincere enough, but Vaughn had been through enough in his life already to know that people don't always mean what they say. With a grunt Big Daddy pulled up a crate and took a seat by the bed, folding his four hands across his lap. What meagre light there was glinted briefly off his black glasses. Silence once more.

"I understand your unwillingness to speak," Big Daddy said after a moment. He flicked his head back, a strand of deep purple hair having fallen in front of his face. "But remember this: you're an enemy of the Federation. And any enemy of them is a friend to me. I'll be in the other room when you're ready."

And without another word he stood and strode from the room, the last sound the thin scrape of his tail on the floor. Vaugnn sighed and gently massaged the sore stump of his right shoulder, wincing in slight pain. So many things going on, he thought with a sigh. Too many things happening all at once. With a tired grumble he brought his hand to his face before studying it for a moment. His hand was shaking. Must have been the stress, the terror. The very real feeling only hours before that he could die at any given moment and could do nothing to stop it. He gave an involuntary shudder and hugged himself close with his only arm.

But really, what else did he have to lose? His brother was already dead. He didn't have any parents. He was loathe to go back to his family and Aunt Victoria, with all her sugar coated malice, made his skin crawl. The Federation probably already had a bounty on his head and to make matters worse he had lost his arm. Vaughn Masters was in a bit of a pickle and he honestly did not know what to do with himself.

With an almost reminiscent air he turned his attention to the omega bran on his arm and shivered coldly, even though the room was warm.

"You are Omega Phoenix 000," he said under his breath, almost as though reciting an oath. "Red lighting strike me, as I roam the blood red skies. I wear no armour. No disguise." He stalled, his words catching in his throat. "Fearless fighter. I'm coming around the bend. My heart's my weapon, my defense…"

He looked around the room once more, finally identifying the acronym and logo scrawled without care on the crates: U.F.P. United Federation of Planets. Their logo a simple yellow star in a blue circle. Vaughn's missing arm ached and he slipped slowly from the bed. With a tired limp, he left the room.

* * *

Gin muttered something in his sleep but didn't awake. For a moment, Dejet did not know what to do. The machines hadn't alerted her to anything and Hackbot, in all his wackiness, hadn't noted any change in Gin's condition. So when he showed the first stirrings of consciousness in more than two weeks Dejet was completely and utterly clueless. Confused she looked at her clipboard, then at the brain monitor in the far wall. It read nothing out of the ordinary. She tapped it, thinking it might be broken. Nothing. Then the realization of what had happened kicked in and like a rocket she shot from the room.

Gin continued to sleep, completely unaware of anything other than the ancient memories playing out their drama in his mind.

* * *

"I told you it was a long story," said Vaughn after a pause, and the silence once more reigned supreme. Big Daddy leaned back in his chair and pursed his fingers together, contemplating. Across from him Vaughn flexed his new arm, still getting used to the feel of cold steel in place of warm flesh. Never in all his years had it even crossed his mind that somewhere down the road he'd be the proud owner of his very own mechanical arm. And yet here he was, flexing it as though it were the real thing.

Vaughn Masters didn't know whether to feel grateful or scared. Finally Big Daddy, his real name as of yet unknown, unfolded from his thoughtful posture and slumped forwards. Without really paying attention to anything he quietly took off his glasses and massaged the side of his head.

"That's quite the story, my friend," he said after a moment. Vaughn blinked but didn't respond. Big Daddy squeezed his trio of black eyes shut and exhaled the most sorrowful of sighs. Warm light from outside danced playfully on the tabletop and Vaughn quietly put his mechanical hand in the sunlight. It was warm. Despite himself he smiled.

"What now?" he asked, not really paying attention. Vaughn was far too interested in how the sensors in his new arm worked.

"What now?" echoed his new companion as he stood. When Vaughn looked up there was a grin on Big Daddy's face. "You don't seem to realize how important you are. Not only are you a Masters, you're also the first of their new project. You're important in more ways than one, my friend. More ways than one."

Big Daddy trailed off into thought and left the room without a word. Confused, all Vaughn could really do was follow.

"Of course they'll want you back," Big Daddy continued, talking more to himself than to Vaughn. "You're important after all. Part of… What did you call it?"

"Epsilon," Vaughn replied without thinking.

"Epsilon!" was the over loud reply, and Vaughn involuntarily flinched at the volume of Big Daddy's voice. "Seems a tradition of your people to use ancient languages in titles, eh? I can't say I blame you. My people do the exact same thing." He flashed Vaughn a toothy grin and promptly seemed to forget he was there, too busy rooting through a million and one crates for something that seemed to defy him at every turn. Vaughn waited patiently to the side, unconsciously flexing his mechanical hand into a fist, getting a feel for the prosthesis.

Despite himself all he could think about at this point in time was the Federation. Which led to thoughts of his brother. Which in turn led to thoughts of anger, regret, and vengeance. Followed all too quickly by hopelessness. He was only one man. What could he do that could influence not only Earth, but all the planets that had joined in the cause of the Galactic Federation? A difficult task indeed, and the more he thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed.

"There!" exclaimed Big Daddy, and curious Vaughn trotted over to see what the burly alien had found. "I knew I still had this! Old thing's covered in dust, but it's none the worse for wear…"

Vaughn eyed the Federation bounty hunter suit with a mixture of curiousity and disdain before throwing Big Daddy a confused look. In response he got a hearty clap on the shoulder.

"It's for you, my friend. We've been looking for someone like you for a long time. It looks like the perfect fit, too!"

"…we..?"

Big Daddy laughed and shook his head.

"Didn't I tell you? You're in the black market now, kid." He gestured around, indicating the Federation stamped crates that earlier Vaughn had taken to be legal imports. "Everything around you in one hundred percent illegally stolen. And you're going to help us."

Quickly Vaughn took a step back and held his hands up defensively.

"Black market?" he yelled, surprised and taken aback. "I never- I mean isn't that illegal? And what if- I don't think I can-"

"Relax! We're safe. No one will find us down here."

Vaughn calmed noticeably, though he still remained visibly nervous. It wasn't really the idea of the black market that scared him. He knew about the existence of underground illegal groups for a very long time and actually sympathized with a lot of them. The problem, and he wasn't quite sure if there even was one, was simply the suddenness of it all. He was silent for a moment, letting the idea sink slowly into his head.

"So I'm…" He trailed off. Big Daddy nodded. Vaughn cocked an eyebrow. "And you… And I can… Get back at them now…?"

Silence. Despite himself, Vaughn smiled, and the man who had saved him smiled back.

"I think you need a new name," Big Daddy said after a moment. Vaughn nodded. He didn't know what yet, but he knew the man was right. He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment all at once the old memory he was reliving faded and disappeared, leaving him in a place of red and black. Surprised he jumped back, sword clinking noisily against his back. He wasn't Vaughn anymore, he was Gin, and even in his dream world he was frightened.

Out of the dark mist something laughed, a low, bass sound like rocks at the bottom of an endless ocean. Gin wiped his mind clean of extraneous thoughts and set it instead to the task at hand.

"I'm awake…" said something from the nothing. Gin looked and looked but saw nothing and unbidden the almost non-existent laughter came again. This time it sounded like thunder rolling across and ancient plane.

"Aeons…" it whispered, voice husky.

"Who are you?" asked Gin, voice trembling only slightly.

"Awake," was the enigmatic response. "Awake… Wake up…"

The black and red faded to a colour that didn't exist and Gin could do nothing to stop it.

* * *

"Gin? Gin wake up. It's Samus. Please, I know you're awake in there…"

Words. All he heard was words. Words without meaning, no more than carefully relegated bits of sound. But it wasn't the words he didn't understand that woke him, it was the voice. The tone. The sound. The person he loved even though he didn't rightly remember who that was. He tried to speak, to make his own meaningless words, but nothing happened. His trachea failed him.

_I'm a failure. _

"Brain activity climbing," came another female voice, and though he didn't know who it was Gin knew that he knew her, too. Something took gentle hold of his cheek and he felt a warm breath in his ear. It smelled sweet, familiar. It made him want to smile.

"Wake up, Gin. Wake up."

There was a small tussle. The hand holding his cheek left and he felt sudden cold sorrow. He felt like crying but couldn't. All he had to do was wake up. Open his eyes and engage his mind and come forth from the cold haunting chill of his memories and stand in the present, where he belonged. He tried once more and failed. He tried again after that, with the same result. And when he tried one more time-

-He awoke to a world soft and warm and alive and dark. Needless to say he was confused. His eyes were open and yet there was no light, only darkness. Soft pillowy darkness that reminded him of something he couldn't quite remember. Tenderly he brought up a hand and felt around. There was a surprised yelp and abruptly the darkness pulled away, revealing the world at long last. He took a deep breath and looked around.

"Vaughn Masters even when you're in a coma you're a playboy!"

There was a laugh.

"That's my brother! Gets all the ladies even when he's unconscious!"

"What's… Going on?" asked Gin groggily. Again the warm hand on his cheek, and this time he recognized who it was.

"You were out for a few days," said Samus with a smile, and she kissed the top of his head. "Everyone's just glad you're finally awake."

"Out for…" Gin half repeated. He remembered protecting Sarah from something that wanted to kill them, then the surge of raw pain as the whatever it was tore his arm clear from his body, machine and flesh alike. He realized his arm hurt, and when he went to grab it there was nothing there. Samus watched him with compassion.

"It did a pretty number on your shoulder there," she explained. "Ravaged both your arm and your arm's socket. I'm surprised Hackbot managed to fix it at all."

Gin looked around once more. Hackbot wasn't here. Only three people: Samus, Vince, and someone he didn't recognize right off the bat standing to the back. Her arms were crossed protectively across her chest and he caught a very faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't figure out why. And then, in one swift moment, Gin knew and sat up straight, ignoring the searing pain he incurred in the process.

"Luna!" he yelled happily, and if he hadn't been in pain he would have jumped up and wrapped her arms around her neck, hugging tight. So Luna did the next best thing and ran over, hugging him tight instead. "Ah'Luna Daciana," Gin muttered quietly, face buried in the crook of her neck. "I thought you were dead, too."

"Daciana's don't die that easily," she said with a smirk. Gin laughed as she pulled away.

"Still the same Luna."

"She's still the same Ah'Luna alright," said Vince bitterly, rubbing his sore cheek. "I went to grope her and she kicked me in the face."

Everyone laughed, even Vince. It seemed as though, even when the universe was in such a state, that the simple act of someone waking up was the most wonderful thing in the universe. And, in the present, it truly was. At this point, nothing else mattered. The Federation didn't exist. The Space Pirates weren't a threat. All that mattered was the common sense of family, restored slowly in bits and pieces with each new addition. Something that both the Federation and the Space Pirates could not understand. Something that gave Gin and his family strength.

But Vince and Luna had other things to attend to, and with love underlying their goodbyes they reluctantly left the room. Samus watched them leave, debating herself whether or not to give Gin some peace. She decided to stay.

"What did you see in your mind?" she asked curiously, taking a seat beside him now that the room was once again empty. "Or did you sleep to pure darkness?" Gin thought for a moment, reliving the memories his sleeping mind had guided him gently through.

"The past."

Samus nodded knowingly and said no more. Gin thought it best at this moment not to mention to husky voice and the place of red and black mist that had appeared unbidden near the end. Such a thing would only worry Samus more, so he kept it to himself and smiled at her, letting his hand gently caress his cheek.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" he said quietly, and surprised Samus took hold of his hand.

"Never."

"There's a first time for everything, eh?"

Samus laughed and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Indeed, Mr. Masters. Indeed."

She stood, letting her hand linger on his. Almost reluctant to let go.

"I have to go. Rest well."

And with a particularly kind smile she was gone, as well. Gin sighed and let his head flop down into the pillow. Absently he stretched his legs. They were weak and sore from all the time he had spent asleep, and he tried to sit up, experiencing a small wave of pain from his ribs as he did so. And all he could do was sigh. It seemed as though his ribs would hurt him forever more. Dutifully he ignored the pain and got himself into an upright position, wincing as he did so.

Then he sighed heavily, let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, and stared at the far wall, waiting. For what, he didn't really know. Permission to leave the bed? It was his ship, wasn't it? He didn't need permission to do anything. No, he wasn't waiting simply… Existing. Content with the fact that he was once again alive and well on this particular plane of existence.

And content he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. This time he did not dream, he only slept.

* * *

Tejed was, for lack of a better term, miffed. She hadn't been allowed to see Gin for the entirety of the time he had been unconscious and she had been getting steadily more and more upset as the days had gone by. The reasoning? Luna didn't like her. Neither did the mechanical _beast_ that had somehow wormed its way onto the ship. Every time they had crossed paths the Guardian had bared its mechanical fangs and the hybrid had sort of slunk off in the opposite direction, hearing her sister's words repeating in the back of her mind: "_Don't get into fights with it_."

Easier said than done when the Guardian wanted to rip her to shreds and see her die.

So Tejed had done what she did best in times like these. She moped around the ship all by her lonesome and shunned any company in the misguided mindset that if the Guardian didn't like her, everyone else hated her, too.

All in all a very unhealthy way to go about things, but then again her mind wasn't healthy to begin with. So she sat, all alone, by a window in the command bay, watching the outside with a sort of blank expression and not really listening to the voice that chattered incessantly at the back of her mind. What was there to listen to anyway? The usual sadistic banter. Nothing really important. She was far too busy thinking about Gin and her sister and a million other things, anyhow.

Her ears twitched. She heard the voices long before their owners entered the room and turned towards the door, curious. And who else should walk in but Gin himself, leaning on Samus for support. Tejed's ears raised in confusion and elation. No one had told her he was awake. This was a surprise for her.

But her mood quickly fell when he saw who was with him: the steel Guardian, keeping an ever watchful eye over both him and Samus like a resolute watchdog. Where she once would have jumped up and wrapped Gin in a hug instead she hunkered down into her seat and tried to remain inconspicuous. And who should laugh but the voice itself, and without meaning to Tejed listened and heard.

"_He's awake_," it hissed. "_It was getting rather lonely over here, just you and me and the nothing._" Mordant laughter. "_But now that we're a great big happy family again we can get the party started! Just you and him and me! The blood will fly tonight!"_

The mental image frightened her and the hybrid clutched her head with her hands, trying to will it away. Gin had stopped at the door, staring out the bay windows as though he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. Tejed didn't notice.

"_Perfect fodder for the engine of war that is us…"_

The hybrid sobbed quietly.

"Where are we?" asked Gin from across the room.

"Bey'ach," Tejed answered quickly, standing. Maybe if she spoke to him she wouldn't hear the voice. Gin look surprised, both to see her and at her answer. The Guardian raised its steel hackles and hissed low in the back of its throat, which rewarded it with a very stern glare from Samus. Hesitantly Tejed took a step towards them, wringing her hands together, fighting back the urge to cry.

"The ship only had enough reserve power to get to the nearest planet," she explained quietly. "Apparently this was it…" She trailed off and watched Gin. It was as though he knew where he was and hadn't seen this place in a very long time. He looked almost nostalgic. He smiled. His happiness made Tejed happy and for a moment she was able to ignore the voice. She smiled, too.

"It's still broken. The ship that is. We've been trying to get it up and running but… Well…"

Gin laughed.

"Couldn't get it fixed, eh?" he replied, his tone good natured. Tejed sort of half shrugged. It was obvious that they hadn't gotten it fixed simply by the fact that they were still there.

"At least we're safe…" Tejed said quietly. "This planet isn't on the local star maps."

"Of course not," was Gin's reply, and he approached the window without Samus' help, limping slightly as he did so. His legs were still getting used to the idea of walking. "This planet is owned by the Masters. No one knows it exists, and the ones who do are only allowed here if they share my last name."

Tejed snorted and rolled her eyes. But of course. It was, for lack of a better term, a paradise. Bey'ach sat about the same distance from its star as Earth did from Sol, the only difference being Bey'ach's star was but one blue giant in a triple start system, sharing its space with two small red stars. The combined light was intense and the heat the blue giant along gave off was far greater than Sol ever could. The result was immediate: a planet lush with tropical forests and lined with white sand beaches. It would have been a very popular tourist destination, if the Masters family hadn't found it first, bought it, and claimed it as their own. Which was exactly what they had done.

"I used to come here with my parents…" Gin said softly, a hand on the window. "But that was a long time ago."

Far off in the distance, over the green tinted sea and against the clear blue sky, Bey'ach's neighbouring planet sat complacently, a gas giant with two intersecting rings. A flock of bird like creatures swept across the sky and something huge leapt from the ocean water before disappearing. Untouched by human hands the planet had prospered, and it was beautiful in its alien way.

Gin turned from the window and cast a glance around the room. First at Tejed, then Samus, then the Guardian before looking back at Tejed.

"You seem happy," he noted, and flustered Tejed looked away.

"I'm just glad you're awake," was her shy response.

"_I'm just glad you're awake,_" mocked the voice with a snigger, trying to get a reaction out of Tejed. Her face twitched; a spastic contraction of the muscles around her left eye; but she pretended as though she hadn't heard. Gin either didn't notice or chose not to comment, instead choosing to smile and pat her on the shoulder.

"I missed you too, Tejed," he said quietly, and the hybrid, even more flustered than before, could do nothing but leave the room as quick as she possibly could. Samus watched her leave with a curious look before turning back to the room, and the huge bay windows therein. The Guardian hissed and took up a vigil near the door, standing stock still like a mechanical statue while Gin could do nothing but stare out the windows at the planet he hadn't seen in such a long, long time. Gently Samus guided him to a seat where he continued to stare.

"It's been a long time…?" asked Samus quietly, almost hesitantly. It seemed to her that to break the silence was a sin all its own. Gin sort of half nodded.

"My parents used to bring me here all the time," he replied. "Me and Vincent used to call this our second home." He paused for a moment. "I forgot how beautiful it was…"

"Gin-" Samus started, before cutting herself off. Now was not the time to ask such a question, she berated herself. The topic was probably sensitive and she didn't want to open up what could possibly be old wounds. But Gin, curious as ever, gave her an inquisitive look, curious as to what she had to say. The Hunter opened her mouth, then closed it, thought about the question in hand. She didn't know how to word it.

"Gin, I…" she trailed off and Gin laughed.

"What?"

A moment of silence, wherein nothing but the sound of crashing surf reached their ears.

"…Your parents," Samus finally said. "I… I want to know about your parents."

Gin replied with silence, a certain furrowing of the brows, before turning his attention back to the outside, and in her mind all Samus could do was berate herself for asking something she knew would hurt him. And all to fulfill her childish curiousity.

"They're dead," he said suddenly. "I don't know how they died, but it was a long time ago, when we were still young."

Where Samus was expecting him to scowl at her instead he turned and flashed her a small smile.

"But that's all in the past, and they were good people. Not like… The rest of my family."

Without warning Gin stood, almost losing his balance in the process due to his legs still being weak, and with Samus as his aide steadied himself. A moment later she stood, too, smiling her Hunter smile.

"It's a beautiful day out, Samus. Let's go enjoy it."

And the Hunter, respecting Gin's unspoken wish to talk no more on the subject, could do nothing but agree.

* * *

"Veavictis Asmadi is dead, sir."

Jack Johnson's drink faltered in his grasp and for a moment he choked on his own words.

"Say again, lieutenant?"

"Veavictis Asmadi. The bounty hunter you hired to dispose of the Hunter and her friends? He's been killed, sir. He never completed his bounty."

Jack was silent for the briefest of moments before standing and escorted the lieutenant from his room, masking his simmering anger with the long used façade of happy indifference. It was only when the doors closed and he was along once again that he let the mask fall. But no, Jack had yelled and screamed enough today. He let his anger rage on in silence, and in many ways the silent anger was far more terrifying than the verbal abuse.

With a shallow, almost non-existent sigh he sat and leaned back, guiding his chair around in languid circles before stopping and punching in a series of numbers into his computer. Putting on his best angry face he turned toward the main window and waited. Jack Johnson was good at waiting. And his waiting paid off: the main window clouded over, the image of outside replaced with the alien face of the main Space Pirate commander. Jack narrowed his eyes.

"Progress report?" he asked, voice sultry and low. The High Commander's lip pulled into a sneer; he never hid his disdain for the human race, Johnson included. The Pirate kept his voice calm in much the same way Jack always did, solely because he knew it made the human angry beyond measure.

"Which project would you like the report on, _Jack_?"

Jack bristled but didn't fall to the bait.

"Alpha," he replied, adding, "As if you didn't know already."

The Pirate laughed, grating and husky.

"It's coming along nicely. Faster than any of us expected. It's adapted to the phazon quite well… But then, if there's one thing humans are good at, it's _experimentation_…"

Jack pretended as though he hadn't heard and inquired as to an ETA. The High Commander's response was simple and to the point: "Two weeks." Jack allowed himself a smile. At least something was going right amid all the chaos. For a moment it filled his mind with relief, before it quickly dissipated.

"What about our other project? Did you find it yet?"

This time it was the High Commander's turn to feel disdain, and his facial features warped to show it.

"Not yet, _sir_," he replied, putting negative emphasis on the word 'sir'. "It ran away with the _Hunter_ you still haven't killed."

"It's your responsibility!" Jack yelled, finally losing his temper. "It's up to YOU to find TransFuse, not us! Get off your slimy backside and FIND THE DAMN THING, ALREADY!"

The High Pirate Commander smiled crookedly at Jack's outburst.

"Did I hit a nerve, _sir_?"

Angrily, Jack didn't reply. The Pirate gave a discourteous bow and terminated the connection, leaving the window to show the city once again. Jack picked up his unfinished drink and for a moment contemplated throwing it out the window, shattering it again. But the idea didn't really resonate with him and he resigned himself to drinking the rest of the alcoholic beverage instead of wasting it.

At the moment, High Commander Jack Johnson wasn't really sure what to do. It seemed as though everything was going wrong all at once. First the Federation had made a pact with the Pirates: created TransFuse to dispose of the Hunter that had meddled a bit too much. They never counted on TransFuse getting away. At the same time the soldiers they had created for the EPSiLoN project had either died or gone missing, which would have been infuriating enough if it hadn't been for Omega Phoenix of all people seemingly returning from the dead. WITH the Hunter. WITH TransFuse. All of them together in some sort of makeshift _family_ of all things.

And then the family he had sent out operatives to kill hadn't been killed fully. Johnson knew she was just a little girl, but she knew things about the Jupiter Incident and the failure of his men to kill her was nothing but another obnoxious obstacle on top of all the rest.

And to top it all off? Anthony knew everything. And he had escaped, too. If Johnson didn't have such a controlled mindset he would have gone berserk a long time ago. Instead he let his anger build up in private and lashed out at whoever got too close. Which was usually Jim, mostly because Jack hated that man since the beginning and he was so easy to rage on.

That was a good idea, actually. Go rage on Jim. Jack smiled to himself, glad he had thought of it, and left the room.

* * *

**AN/ **In the immortal words of GLaDOS: "It's been a looooong time." I hope all of you are still alive out there. D: I'm sorry for such a retardedly long absence, but what can I say. Life happened. That said, enjoy more Pirated Scraps of Insanity in all its silly glory. I've gotten a bit of my creative spark back and will be working on it some more. Peace, my friends. C:


	22. A Note Regarding Story Activity

I realize it's against the rules to upload a nonchapter as a chapter but this is important. Pirated Scraps of Humanity, this version at least, is permanently discontinued. I've revamped the plot significantly, changed the way some of the characters interact, and got rid of those pesky, gaping plot holes. The old shoddy writing and a very particular tournament that shall not be named (I thought it was an amazing idea at the time, alright) were doing nothing but setting me back, and literally every time I would get ready to work on the newest chapter, I would never find the motivation.

The story is not dead. To be honest I like it way too much. I'm simply rewriting it from scratch now that I've grown as a writer and came make words work better. Keep an eye out for a new Pirated Scraps of Humanity in the future, because even though work and life and just being alive has gotten in the way and proven to be very major setbacks, like I said before, I like the story of Tejed and her ridiculous antics way too much to simply let it waste away and die.

Cheers. 3

PS: I also apologize for being so sparse in updates. I can't promise I'll be any better in the future, but the fact that what started out as a silly idea between me and my boyfriend managed to actually gain fans is amazing and I love all of you for staying with me all this time, regardless of what I personally deem 'shoddy' writing.

Peace, all.

Hopefully the story will be much, much better this time around. c:


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